Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Plūm'ming, n. p. 1001(Min.) The operation of finding, by means of a mine dial, the place where to sink an air-shaft, or to bring an adit to the work, or to find which way the lode inclines.Plu-mōse' or Plū'mōus, a. p. 1001Having feathers or plumes; resembling a plume or plumes. 2. (Bot.) Having hairs, or any parts or appendages arranged along an axis; plume-like.Plū'mo-site, n. p. 1001(Min.) A sulphuret of antimony and lead crystallizing in capillary forms. Dana.Plu-mōs'i-ty, n. p. 1001The state of being plumose.Plŭmp, a. p. 1001Swelled with fat or flesh to the full size; full; fat; having a full skin; round; as, a plump boy; a plump habit of body. The famished crow grows plump and round. Swift. 2. Complete; unreserved…Plūmp, n. p. 1001A number of things closely united or standing together; a knot; a cluster; a collection; a clump; as, a plump of trees; a plump of fowls; a plump of horsemen. [Obs.] “To visit islands and the plumps…Plŭmp, v. t. p. 1001To extend to fullness; to swell; to dilate; to fatten. “To plump up the hollowness of their history with improbable miracles.” Fuller. The particles of air, expanding themselves, plump out the sides…Plŭmp, v. i. p. 1001To grow large to fullness; to be swelled. 2. To plunge or fall like a heavy mass or lump of dead matter; to fall suddenly or at once.Plāmp, adv. p. 1001At once, or with a sudden, heavy fall; suddenly; heavily. B. Jonson.Plŭmp'er, n. p. 1001Something carried in the mouth to dilate the cheeks; a thing intended to swell out something else. Swift. 2. (English Elections.) A vote given to one candidate only, when two or more are to be…Plūm'-pie, n. p. 1002A pie containing plums.Plŭmp'ly, adv. p. 1002In a plump manner; fully; roundly; without reserve; as, to assert a thing plumply. [Colloq.]Plāmp'ness, n. p. 1002The state of being plump. Newton.Plūm'-pŏr'ridge, n. p. 1002Porridge with plums in it.Plūm'-pŭd'ding, n. p. 1002Pudding containing raisins or currants.Plŭmp'y, a. p. 1002Somewhat plump; fat; jolly. Shak.Plŭm'-tree, n. p. 1002A tree that produces plums.Plā'mu-lā, n. p. 1002(Bot.) A plumule.Plū'mūle, n. p. 1002(Bot.) The first bud, or gemule, of a young plant; the bud, or growing point, of the embryo, above the cotyledons. Gray.Plū'mu-lōse', a. p. 1002Having hairsPlūm'y, a. p. 1002Covered or adorned with plumes. Milton.Plān'der, v. t. p. 1002To take the goods of by force; to take from by robbery; to pillage; to spoil; to strip; to rob; as, to plunder a place. 2. To take by pillage or open force; as, the enemy plundered all the goods they…Plūn'der, n. p. 1002That which is taken from an enemy; pillage; prey; spoil. 2. Personal property and effects; baggage or luggage. [Southern and Western U. S.] These bring seventeen bales of furniture, and other rich…Plŭn'der-age, n. p. 1002(Mar. Law.) Embezzling goods on shipboard. Wharton.Plăn'der-er, n. p. 1002One who plunders.Plŭnge, v. t. p. 1002To thrust into water or other fluid substance, or into any substance that is penetrable; to immerse in a fluid; to drive into flesh, mire, earth, or the like; as, to plunge the body in water. 2.…Plŭnge, v. i. p. 1002To thrust or drive one's self into water, or a fluid; to dive, or to rush in; to pitch; as, he plunged into the river. His courser plunged, And threw him off; the waves whelmed over him. Dryden. 2.…Plŭnge, n. p. 1002The act of thrusting into water or any penetrable substance. 2. A state of being surrounded or overwhelmed with difficulties; difficulty; strait; distress. [Rare.] And wilt thou not reach out a…Plān'geon, n. p. 1002(Ornith.) A sea-fowl; the diver. Ainsworth.Plŭn'ger, n. p. 1002One who plunges; a diver. 2. A long, solid cylinder, used as a forcer in pumps. Plunger-pole, the pump-rod of a pumping engine.Plŭn’ging, p. a. p. 1002Rushing down headlong; pitching downward. Plunging-bath, or plunge-bath, a bath in which a person can dive and swim. Simmonds.—Plunging fire (Mil.), a fire poured down upon an enemy from some…Plā'ny, a. p. 1002Wet. [Obs.] Chaucer.Plūnk'et, n. p. 1002A kind of blue color. Ainsworth.Plu'per-fect, a. p. 1002More than perfect; — said of that tense of a verb which denotes that an action or event took place previous to another past action or event.Plū'ral, a. p. 1002Containing more than one; consisting of or designating two or more; as, a plural word. Plural number (Gram.), the number which designates more than one.Plū'ral-ism, n. p. 1002(Eccl.) State or condition of being in the plural; the holding of more than one ecclesiastical living at a time. [Eng.]Plu'ral-ist, n. p. 1002(Eccl.) A clerk or clergyman who holds more ecclesiastical benefices than one, with cure of souls. Johnson.Plu-rā'l'i-ty, n. p. 1002The state of being plural, or consisting of more than one; a number consisting of two or more of the same kind; as, a plurality of gods; a plurality of worlds. 2. A greater number; a state of being…Plū'ral-ize, v. t. p. 1002To make plural by using the termination of the plural number.Plū'ral-ize, v. i. p. 1002(Eccl.) To hold more than one benefice at a time.Plū'ral-iz'er, n. p. 1002(Eccl.) A pluralist.Plū'ral-ly, adv. p. 1002In a sense implying more than one.Plū'ri-ēs, n. p. 1002(Law.) A writ which is issued subsequently to one or more of the same kind previously issued; — so called from the word pluries, which occurs in the first clause of it.Plū'ri-fā'ri-oŭs, a. p. 1002Of many kinds or fashions; multifarious.Plū'ri-fō'li-o-late, a. p. 1002(Bot.) Having many small leaves. Gray.Plū'ri-lit'er-al, a. p. 1002Consisting of more letters than three.Plū'ri-lit'er-al, n. p. 1002A word consisting of more than three letters.Plū'ri-lŏc'ū-lar, a. p. 1002(Bot.) Having several divisions containing seeds; — said of certain fruits, as the lemon, orange, and the like.Plu'ri-præs'ence, n. p. 1002Presence in many places, or in more places than one. [Rare.]Plū'ri-sy, n. p. 1002Superabundance. [Obs.] Shak. 2. Plethora.Plūs p. 1002(Alg.) A character marked thus, +, used as a sign of addition.Plāsh, n. p. 1002A textile fabric with a sort of velvet nap or shag on one side.Plāsh'er, n. p. 1002(Ichth.) A marine fish, somewhat like the dog-fish. Carew.Plūs'quam-pĕr'fect, a. p. 1002Pluperfect. [Rare.]Plū'to p. 1002(Gr. & Rom. Myth.) The son of Saturn, brother of Jupiter and Neptune, and god of the infernal regions.Plu-tō'ni-an, a. p. 1002Plutonic. Plutonian theory (Geol.), the theory that the unstratified crystalline rocks were formed by the agency of heat; — opposed to Neptunian theory.Plū-tō'mi-an, n. p. 1002(Geol.) One who maintains the origin of mountains, &c., to be from fire.Plu-tōn'ic, a. p. 1002Pertaining to Pluto; hence, pertaining to the interior of the earth; subterranean. 2. Pertaining to, or designating, the system of the Plutonists; igneous; as, the Plutonic theory. Plutonic action…Plū'to-nism, n. p. 1002The doctrines of the Plutonists.Plü'to-nist, n. p. 1002One who adopts the theory of the formation of the world in its present state from igneous fusion; a Plutonian.