plunge
Contents
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English plungen, ploungen, Anglo-Norman plungier, from Old French plongier, (Modern French plonger), from unattested Late Latin frequentative to throw a leaded line, from plumbum (“lead”). Compare plumb, plounce.
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
plunge (third-person singular simple present plunges, present participle plunging, simple past and past participle plunged)
- (transitive) To thrust into water, or into any substance that is penetrable; to immerse.
- to plunge the body into water
- (figuratively, transitive) To cast or throw into some thing, state, condition or action.
- to plunge a dagger into the breast; to plunge a nation into war
- (transitive, obsolete) To baptize by immersion.
- (intransitive) To dive, leap or rush (into water or some liquid); to submerge oneself.
- he plunged into the river
- (figuratively, intransitive) To fall or rush headlong into some thing, action, state or condition.
- to plunge into debt; to plunge into controversy
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:
- The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet: […] .
- 1989, David Gale, The Theory of Linear Economic Models:
- Before asking the reader to plunge into the subject of linear models I shall, in accordance with a sensible custom, attempt in the few pages which follow to give some idea of what this subject is.
- (intransitive) To pitch or throw oneself headlong or violently forward, as a horse does.
- (Can we date this quote?) Joseph Hall
- some wild colt, which […] flings and plunges
- (Can we date this quote?) Joseph Hall
- (intransitive, slang) To bet heavily and recklessly; to risk large sums in gambling.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To entangle or embarrass (mostly used in past participle).
- (Can we date this quote?) Thomas Browne
- Plunged and gravelled with three lines of Seneca.
- (Can we date this quote?) Thomas Browne
- (intransitive, obsolete) To overwhelm, overpower.
TranslationsEdit
to thrust into water, or into any substance that is penetrable; to immerse
(figuratively, transitive) to cast or throw into some thing, state, condition or action
(intransitive) to dive, leap or rush (into water or some liquid); to submerge oneself
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(figuratively, intransitive) to fall or rush headlong into some thing, action, state or condition
(intransitive) to pitch or throw oneself headlong or violently forward, as a horse does
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
NounEdit
plunge (plural plunges)
- the act of plunging or submerging
- a dive, leap, rush, or pitch into (into water)
- to take the water with a plunge
- A plunge into the sea
- (dated) A swimming pool
- (figuratively) the act of pitching or throwing oneself headlong or violently forward, like an unruly horse
- (slang) heavy and reckless betting in horse racing; hazardous speculation
- (obsolete) an immersion in difficulty, embarrassment, or distress; the condition of being surrounded or overwhelmed; a strait; difficulty
TranslationsEdit
The act of thrusting into or submerging; a dive, leap, rush, or pitch into, or as into, water; as, to take the water with a plunge
ReferencesEdit
- plunge in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- “plunge”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
