How to use plunk in a sentence

15 example sentences · noun, adverb, interjection

Plunk means a brief, dull sound, such as the sound of a string of a stringed instrument being plucked, or the thud of something landing on a surface. Example: “Enrique plunked his money down on the counter with a sigh and bellied up to the bar.”

Examples of plunk by meaning

nounA brief, dull sound, such as the sound of a string of a stringed instrument being plucked, or the thud of something...

They listened and could hear the steady plunk, plunk of an axe somewhere far above them.1930 July 21, Arthur Ransome, “The Charcoal-burners”, in Swallows & Amazons, London: Jonathan Cape, […], published 1953, →OCLC, page 131

nounA dollar.

A hundred t'ousand plunks.1910 May 11, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Spike’s Views”, in The Intrusion of Jimmy [A Gentleman of Leisure], New York, N.Y.: Grosset &...

interjectionOften reduplicated: used to represent a brief, dull sound, such as the sound of a string of a stringed instrument being...

John, swinging the axe, plunk, plunk, plunk, was chopping the thinner branches all to the same length.1936, Arthur Ransome, “A Run on Blowpipes”, in Pigeon Post, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published October 1944, →OCLC, page 292

verbChiefly followed by down or out: to pay (money); to plank.

Just let them tell him a thing is pretty and fashionable, and Matthew plunks his money down for it.1908 June, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “The Hotel Concert”, in Anne of Green Gables, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, published...

verbTo pluck and quickly release (a string of a stringed instrument); also, to play (a stringed instrument) by plucking...

Every lesson was the same: You would plunk out a few notes, and he would stop you.2010, Joan Wickersham, “The Boys’ School, or The News from Spain”, in Sven Birkerts, editor, AGNI, number 72, Boston, Mass.: Boston...
Her friends were boggled by how long it took her to plunk out simple texts, but Kate says she learned skills her peers have never had to master.2025 September 6, Catherine Pearson, “She Started the Debate About Kids and Phones. Now She Wants to End It.”, in The New York Times, New...

verbOften followed by down: to drop, set, or throw (something, or oneself) abruptly and/or heavily into or on to a surface...

Enrique plunked his money down on the counter with a sigh and bellied up to the bar.
Exhausted, she plunked herself on the sofa.

verbTo pitch a ball in a way that it hits (a player).

The Braves retaliated by plunking Harper in the next inning.

verbTo pluck and quickly release a string of a musical instrument; also, to play a stringed instrument by plucking strings...

W. would call the din from the rock stars' dressing rooms where electric guitars whined, drums rattled, sitars plunked; and marijuana made the air a tender blue.1978, Gore Vidal, chapter 3, in Kalki […], New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 153

More sentences with plunk

The plunk of the keys was beginning to feel like Chinese water torture, each note a painful drip.2006, Jacqueline Pearce, The Truth About Rats (and Dogs), →ISBN, page 1. From the entry Chinese water torture
When one pie was left, Faith plunked down her money and stepped up to the line, the heavily whip-creamed pie in her hand.2014, Cindi Madsen, Resisting the Hero, Parker, Colo.: Bliss, Entangled Publishing, LLC, →ISBN. From the entry whip-creamed
"I'm so sorry!" I blushed as I plunked down my now-spaghettiless tray and grabbed a bunch of napkins from the dispenser at the center of the table.2010, Stacey Jay, Undead much, Razorbill, page 95. From the entry spaghettiless
The carny's goal is to get you to keep playing the game, and plunking down cash, until you get enough credits to trade up to a better prize.2003, Bret Witter, Carnival Undercover, page 88. From the entry hanky-pank
Wen I lay down behine dat log I plunk masef right een one dem aunty mire nest an bout 10 million of dem leetle devil begin to heat me.1915, Daniel T. Trombley, Batiste of Isle La Motte, page 24. From the entry mire

Meaning of plunk

noun A brief, dull sound, such as the sound of a string of a stringed instrument being plucked, or the thud of something landing on a surface.
noun A (heavy) blow or hit.
noun A dollar.

Full definition of plunk

Questions about plunk in a sentence

How do you use plunk in a sentence?: Plunk is used as a noun, adverb and interjection. For example: “Enrique plunked his money down on the counter with a sigh and bellied up to the bar.”
What is a short sentence with plunk?: “A hundred t'ousand plunks.”
What does plunk mean?: Plunk means a brief, dull sound, such as the sound of a string of a stringed instrument being plucked, or the thud of something landing on a surface.

Adapted from Wiktionary: plunk (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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