PLUNGING

Verb

plunging

present participle of plunge

Adjective

plunging

That descends steeply.

Aimed from higher ground, as fire upon an enemy.

Noun

plunging (plural plungings)

An occurrence of putting or sinking under water or other fluid.

A headlong violent motion like that of a horse trying to throw its rider.

Anagrams

• pungling

Source: Wiktionary


PLUNGE

Plunge, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plunged; p. pr. & vb. n. Plunging.] Etym: [OE. ploungen, OF. plongier, F. plonger, fr. (assumed) LL. plumbicare, fr. L. plumbum lead. See Plumb.]

1. To thrust into water, or into any substance that is penetrable; to immerse; to cause to penetrate or enter quickly and forcibly; to thrust; as, to plunge the body into water; to plunge a dagger into the breast. Also used figuratively; as, to plunge a nation into war. "To plunge the boy in pleasing sleep." Dryden. Bound and plunged him into a cell. Tennyson. We shall be plunged into perpetual errors. I. Watts.

2. To baptize by immersion.

3. To entangle; to embarrass; to overcome. [Obs.] Plunged and graveled with three lines of Seneca. Sir T. Browne.

Plunge, v. i.

1. To thrust or cast one's self into water or other fluid; to submerge one's self; to dive, or to rush in; as, he plunged into the river. Also used figuratively; as, to plunge into debt. Forced to plunge naked in the raging sea. Dryden. To plunge into guilt of a murther. Tillotson.

2. To pitch or throw one's self headlong or violently forward, as a horse does. Some wild colt, which . . . flings and plunges. Bp. Hall.

3. To bet heavily and with seeming recklessness on a race, or other contest; in an extended sense, to risk large sums in hazardous speculations. [Cant] Plunging fire (Gun.), firing directed upon an enemy from an elevated position.

Plunge, n.

1. 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.

2. Hence, a desperate hazard or act; a state of being submerged or overwhelmed with difficulties. [R.] She was brought to that plunge, to conceal her husband's murder or accuse her son. Sir P. Sidney. And with thou not reach out a friendly arm, To raise me from amidst this plunge of sorrows Addison.

3. The act of pitching or throwing one's self headlong or violently forward, like an unruly horse.

4. Heavy and reckless betting in horse racing; hazardous speculation. [Cant] Plunge bath, an immersion by plunging; also, a large bath in which the bather can wholly immerse himself.

– Plunge, or plunging, battery (Elec.), a voltaic battery so arranged that the plates can be plunged into, or withdrawn from, the exciting liquid at pleasure.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

5 November 2024

TEMPORIZE

(verb) draw out a discussion or process in order to gain time; โ€œThe speaker temporized in order to delay the voteโ€


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries from certain Coffea species. When coffee berries turn from green to bright red โ€“ indicating ripeness โ€“ they are picked, processed, and dried. Dried coffee seeds are roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor.

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