Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Plūm'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.Plū'tus p. 1002(Gr. & Rom. Myth.) The son of Jason, or Jasus, and Ceres, and god of wealth. He was represented by the Greeks as lame in his approach, but winged in his departure, and as blind and foolish, because…Plü'vi-al, a. p. 1002Abounding in rain; rainy. [Rare.] Browne.Plū'vi-al, n. p. 1002A priest's cope. [Obs.] Ainsworth.Plū'vi-ăm'e-ter, n. p. 1002The same as PLUVIOMETER.Plū'vi-a-mĕt'ric-al, a. p. 1002The same as PLUVIOMETRICAL.Plū'vi-ŏm'e-ter, n. p. 1002A rain-gauge, an instrument for ascertaining the quantity of water that falls in rain, or in rain and snow, at any place, in a given time; a pluviameter.Plü'vi-o-mĕt'rie-al, a. p. 1002Pertaining to a pluviometer; made or ascertained by a pluviometer.Plū'vi-ōse, n. p. 1002The fifth month of the French republican calendar which dated from September 22, 1792. It commenced January 20, and ended February 18 or 19. See VENDEMIAIRE.Plü'vi-oüs, a. p. 1002Abounding in rain; rainy; pluvial.Ply, v. t. p. 1002To fold or cover over; to lay on closely; to lay on; to put to or on with force and repetition. “And plies him with redoubled strokes.” Dryden. 2. To urge; to solicit with pressing or persevering…Ply, v. i. p. 1002To bend; to yield. [Obs.] As they never disagreed, so all plied before them. Burnet. The willow plied, and gave way to the gust. L’Estrange. 2. To work steadily. Ere half these authors be read (which…Plȳ, n. p. 1002[Fr. pli, from plier. See supra.] A fold; a plait. Arbuthnot. 2. Bent; turn; direction; bias. The late learners can not so well take the ply. Bacon. Boswell, and others of Goldsmith's cotemporaries…Plÿ'er, n. p. 1002One who, or that which, plies; specifically, (a.) (pl.) A kind of balance used in raising and letting down a drawbridge, consisting of timbers joined in the form of St. Andrew's cross. (b.) (pl.) A…Plȳm'outh-clōak, n. p. 1002A cudgel. [Slang.]Pneü-māt'ic or Pneü-māt'ic-al, a. p. 1002Consisting of, or resembling, air; — opposed to dense or solid. The pneumatic substance being, in some bodies, the native spirit of the body. Bacon. 2. Pertaining to air, or to elastic fluids or…Pneū-māt'ics, n. sing. p. 1003That branch of science which treats of the mechanical properties of air and other elastic fluids, as of their weight, pressure, elasticity, and the like. 2. (Philos. & Theol.) The doctrine of…Pneū-māt’o-cēle, n. p. 1003(Surg.) A distention of the scrotum by air.Pneū'ma-to-lōg'ie-al, a. p. 1003Pertaining to pneumatology. Davy.Pneū'ma-tōl'o-gĭst, n. p. 1003One versed in pneumatology.Pneū'ma-tŏl'ō-gy, n. p. 1003The doctrine of, or a treatise on, air and other elastic fluids. 2. (Philos. & Theol.) The doctrine of, or a treatise on, pneumatics.