plumbering

Verb

plumber (third-person singular simple present plumbers, present participle plumbering, simple past and past participle plumbered)

1. (US, slang, transitive) To botch or ruin.
   • There is nothing to work him into a fine feeling of agony and despair like an exam scheduled for the next day, or a paper to write, or a concert in which he is to sing. Wish him the top of the morning when he is looking forward to one of these events, and then hear the woeful story of how badly he...1930, “Paul Thomas Martin”, in Joseph W. Martin, editor, The Record, Haverford, Pa.: The Class of 1930, Haverford College, →OCLC, page 54

   Synonyms:

   plumber up

2. (informal, intransitive, rare) To work as a plumber.
   • Joe Staudinger plumbered so well that on Saturday night boiling water came from both hot and cold faucets.1939 November 28, “Nordenotes”, in Sierra Club Yodeler, volume 1, number 19, San Francisco, Calif.: San Francisco Bay Chapter, Sierra Club, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 5, column 1

   Synonyms:

   plumb

3. (informal, rare, transitive) To work on (something) as a plumber.
   • PIPES PLUMBERED BY US stay plumbered till they wear out. No leaky joints or splitting follow our work. How about the pipes on your steam or hot water heater? Don’t they need repacking or perhaps replacing? HAVE US LOOK AT THEM NOW.1908 September 29, Deetz & Mullen, “Pipes Plumbered by Us”, in The Evening Times, city edition, volume XLIV, number 231, Cumberland, Md., →OCLC, page 7, column 7

   Synonyms:

   plumber up

4. (rare, slang, transitive) To do, work, devise (something).
   • Q. [Mr. Goodman] At the period of time we have spoken of, that strike settled down, did it not, in 1910 and 1911, and there was no strike? A. [Fred C. Schanberger] No. Q. What happened to the Vaudeville Managers’ Co-operative Association’s activities at that time? A. Oh, they kind of plumbered it...1919 October 15, “Federal Investigation”, in Variety, volume LVII, number 6, New York, N.Y.: Variety, published 2 January 1920, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 52, column 3
5. (informal, rare, transitive) To equip (something) with plumbing.
   • How many times should a bathroom be “plumbered”? IT should be “plumbered” once more if it is an old bathroom of the tin-tub, iron-pipe era. Call in your plumber and have him rip out the old, unsanitary fixtures and the rusting iron or steel pipe and put in modern fixtures connected with good brass...1928 July, Chase Brass & Copper Co., “Alpha Brass Pipe”, in Richardson Wright, editor, House & Garden, volume LIV, number 1, Greenwich, Conn.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 117

   Synonyms:

   plumber up

See all 10 meanings of plumber