Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use plumb in a sentence

26 example sentences · noun, adjective, adverb

Plumb means a little mass of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc., to indicate a vertical direction. Example: “It hit him plumb in the middle of his face.”

Examples of plumb by meaning

nounThe perpendicular direction or position.

  • Customers turned away from rickety chairs, stands of drawers that refused to open, or had no handles, lop-sided wardrobes whose doors were out of plumb or whose mirrors were cracked.1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 61

adverbSquarely, directly; deeply, completely.

  • It hit him plumb in the middle of his face.
  • Years ago the well plumb dried out, not a drop of water in there since.
  • Hardman?' 'I'm plumb certain.'.1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 9, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 143

verbTo think about or explore in depth, to get to the bottom of.

  • to plumb the depths of
  • Delving to the core of her heart, his blue-green eyes plumbed her psyche, stripping it of all defenses, all resolve.2011, Catherine Lanigan, The Texan

More sentences with plumb

  • Well, by morning the little girl was coolsome, but plumb wore down to nothing.2014, Bruce Thorstad, Deadwood Dick and the Code of the West. From the entry coolsome
  • In my haze of alcohol, I thought for one crazy instant that he had plumbed my secret.1957, Daphne du Maurier, The Scapegoat, →ISBN, page 218. From the entry haze
  • I never was so plumb mistook in all of my born days.”1925, T. C. Bridges, chapter 31, in The River Riders: An Exciting Lumberjack Story, London and New York: Frederick Warne. From the entry gump
  • Wright's hearin', why, such a sensitive, high-tempered gentleman as he would go plumb off his nut."1914, Zane Grey, chapter 13, in The Rustlers of Pecos County. From the entry off one's nut
  • He seemed plumb possessed of gloom, and moped around like a chicken with the pip.1907, Stewart Edward White, chapter 15, in Arizona Nights. From the entry like a chicken with the pip
  • You'll find, when all's said an' done, that she's plumb levitous, an' levitous folks is triflin'."1907, Harry Leon Wilson, Ewing's Lady, page 61. From the entry levitous
  • The underspoke pointing squarely toward the floor on which the vehicle stands should be plumb when loaded.1907, Motor Body, Paint and Trim - Volume 43, page 42. From the entry underspoke
  • I plumb forgot what this dustup's even about.2020 September 27, Christy Stratton & Jeremy Rowley, “Violet's Secret” (18:18 from the start), in Bless the Harts, season 2, episode 1…. From the entry dustup
  • And I was the one had to blow on it to keep it goin' he was plumb out of wind.2006, Elmer Kelton, The Raiders: Sons of Texas, →ISBN. From the entry out of wind
  • Actually, I have a slashfic that I'm writing for Mellie that will, I trust, plumb new levels of horrificity.2000 October 22, Jess Nevins, “oh my god”, in rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc (Usenet), archived from the original on 04 Apr 2024. From the entry horrificity
  • The scaffold must be level and plumb.1999, William P[erkins] Spence, “Ladders, Scaffolding & Runways”, in Carpentry & Building Construction: A Do-it-yourself Guide, New York…. From the entry scaffold
  • It's Cottontail Smith, and he's gone plumb loco!1943 April 3, Super-Rabbit, spoken by an unnamed rabbit. From the entry loco
  • "You'd be plumb nerts" says he, "to think of it."1928, Joseph Patrick McEvoy, Grosset and Dunlap present Show girl, page 47. From the entry nerts
  • The widder, pore soul, suspicioning trouble, follered Jake, and found him with a bullet plumb through his heart.1913, Horace Annesley Vachell, Bunch Grass. From the entry foller
  • "I ain't plumb shore," replied the widow cautiously.1909 January, Grace MacGowan Cooke, “The Flight of Robert Sevier: Relating How, When, and Where He Flew”, in Lippincott's Monthly…. From the entry sawn
  • There’s a low barrier to entry, and nearly endless depths to plumb if you feel like falling down a Google research hole.2018 January 18, Julie Beck, “The New Age of Astrology”, in The Atlantic. From the entry astrology
  • While attempting to plumb the intensity of my feelings about the “deep dark secrets,” known by absolutely everyone, I have been reminded of the “undertoad.”2013, Ann Todd Jealous, Caroline T. Haskell, Combined Destinies: Whites Sharing Grief about Racism, →ISBN. From the entry undertoad
  • "I plumb forgot the pine shatters.2012, Marguerite Henry, Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteague, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 95. From the entry shatter
  • But jest yo’ lemme tell yo’ that knocker on the front door is a plumb scandalosity, an’ I isn’t gwine do yo’ wuck.1932, The Adventures of the Black Duse, Judd & Detweiler, Inc., page 209. From the entry scandalosity
  • It is a lie detector; with its aid one can plumb the bottomless pits of a chap's subconscious mind, and fathom all the mysteries of his subliminal ego.1909, Charles Edmonds Walk, The Yellow Circle, page 69. From the entry lie detector

Meaning of plumb

  1. noun A little mass of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc., to indicate a vertical direction.
  2. noun A weight on the end of a long line, used by sailors to determine the depth of water.
  3. noun The perpendicular direction or position.

Full definition of plumb

Questions about plumb in a sentence

How do you use plumb in a sentence?
Plumb is used as a noun, adjective and adverb. For example: “It hit him plumb in the middle of his face.”
What is a short sentence with plumb?
“Hardman?' 'I'm plumb certain.'.”
What does plumb mean?
Plumb means a little mass of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc., to indicate a vertical direction.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: plumb (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use plumb in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/plumb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.