Emily Dickinson Lexicon

plummet, adj. [ME < OFr plommet, ball of lead, diminutive of plomb, lead.]

Plunging; probing; hint-dropping; like an instrument used to test the depth of water; [fig.] experimental; testing; probing.

plummetless, adj. [see plummet, adj.]

Deep; unfathomable; abysmal; bottomless; beyond the reach of an instrument used for calculating the depth of water; [fig.] far gone; at a distance; far away from mortality.

plump (-er), adj. [MDu plomp, blunt, not pointed, not sharp.] (webplay: cheek, house).

1. Full; round; swollen; ripe; filled out.
2. Chubby; healthy; round-faced; pleasantly pudgy.

plunder, n. [Ger. plündern, pillage, sack, rob of household effects < MHG blunder, bed-clothes, clothing, household stuff.] (webplay: house, robber, watch).

1. Pillage; robbery; looting; marauding; thieving; act of stealing.
2. Loot; valuable items; goods easily stolen.

plunge, n. [ME plunge(n) < OFr plunjer < late L. *plumbicāre, heave the lead < plumbum, lead.] (webplay: heaven, lead, river, sink).

1. Fall; dive; descent; slip; drop; sinking; rapid downward movement; [fig.] difficulty; trial; frightening experience; death; leaving mortality.
2. Turn; crash; point; act of hitting something solid in a rapid fall.

plupotential, adj. [ED contrived word, poss. L. plūs, more + potentia, potency + -āl-em, pertaining to.]

Superior; supremely strong; exceptionally powerful; matchlessly steady.

plush, adj. [see plush, n. for etymology and possible noun interpretations.]

Soft; velvety; downy like a caterpillar; fuzzy like a bee; [fig.] pleasant; entranced with the joys of marital love.

plush (-es), n. [ME < Fr. pluche, velvet, silk fabric < peluchier, pick, untangle hair.] (webplay: single, velvet).

1. Fuzz; down; silky texture; soft fabric; cloth with a velvety nap; [fig.] softness; luxuriousness.
2. Luxury; opulence; sumptuousness; [fig.] gentility; refinement; eloquence; elegant expression; beautiful sentiment.
3. Caterpillar; delicate creature; endangered species; exquisite object; rare thing.
4. Silk; finest quality fabric; [fig.] funeral shroud; casket lining.
5. Cushion; padding; [onomatopoetic] swish; soft sound that paws make.
6. Soft ground cover; dead grass, new snow, or fallen leaves.
7. Pollen; soft flower petals; rows of blossoms in a garden.
8. [As subject or object] soft body; fuzzy exterior; [as object] pollen; delicate flower petals; luxurious field of blossoms; [fig.] pelt; skin; ectoderm of a bee; exterior surface of a caterpillar; [metonym] caterpillar (see J173/Fr171). [The syntactic and lexical ambiguities of this occurrence of “Plush” are challenging to define.]
9. Muffler; insulation; material that dampens sound; [fig.] silence; quiet; hush; soundlessness.
10. Comfort; balm; soothing ability; smoothing power; way of easing pain; skill at diminishing grief.

ply (-ing, plied, plies), v. [ME plye, apply.] (webplay: busy, closely, lie, timbers).

1. Use; put to work; employ; busy; make useful; engage in service.
2. Work; labor; toil; persevere; persist; [fig.] dig.
3. Bustle; clamber; scramble; move about busily; [fig.] move; fly.
4. [Fig.] occur; happen; take place; proceed; continue. 1494/excl. The competitions of the sky / Corrodeless ply.

pocket (-s), n. [ME poket < Anglo-N pokete.] (webplay: put).

1. Pouch; small cloth bag attached to the inside of a garment for carrying things.
2. [Fig.] cheeks; storage place.
3. [Fig.] riches; wealth; fortune; abundance; bounty; property; treasure
4. [Fig.] possession; ownership; holding; keeping. 1772/excl. Let me not … beg, with Domains in my Pocket