plumb 1 of 3

plumb

2 of 3

adverb

1
as in straight
in a direct line or course I can't believe he walked plumb into the tree, without even seeing it!

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
3

plumb

3 of 3

verb

as in to scale
to measure the depth of (as a body of water) typically with a weighted line plumbed the bay to make sure it was deep enough for the ship

Synonyms & Similar Words

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective plumb differ from other similar words?

The words perpendicular and vertical are common synonyms of plumb. While all three words mean "being at right angles to a base line," plumb stresses an exact verticality determined (as with a plumb line) by earth's gravity.

make sure that the wall is plumb

When might perpendicular be a better fit than plumb?

Although the words perpendicular and plumb have much in common, perpendicular may stress the straightness of a line making a right angle with any other line, not necessarily a horizontal one.

the parallel bars are perpendicular to the support posts

In what contexts can vertical take the place of plumb?

In some situations, the words vertical and plumb are roughly equivalent. However, vertical suggests a line or direction rising straight upward toward a zenith.

the side of the cliff is almost vertical

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of plumb
Adjective
In My Mother and Eye, 2025, a sweeping Public Art Fund project installed in bus shelters across New York City, Boston, and Chicago, eleven discrete photographic collages plumb this intangible meeting point. Jessica Simmons-Reid, Artforum, 1 June 2025 Artists were enlisted to plumb surreality and to popularize it. Jonathon Keats, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Verb
While the wildly funny banter between Byrne and Rogen produce comedic gold, there’s an unwillingness to allow any of these characters to really plumb their dark places (case in point, MacFarlene’s Jeopardy!-obsessed lawyer who undergoes a change that gets resolved too easily). Randy Myers, Mercury News, 7 Aug. 2025 Contemporary writers like Gee and Norris plumb their personal histories to determine when they were first touched by faith’s latent mundanity. Terry Nguyen july 23, Literary Hub, 23 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for plumb
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plumb
Adjective
  • Here was the postwar American housewife—neatly dressed, pretty, poised, active—stepping unwittingly into a scene of utter depravity and sadism that reflected back at this wholesome young mother the darkest recesses of the human mind.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Such comments demonstrate his utter disregard for and distrust of law enforcement and our legal process.
    U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Moving people up and down this vertical city requires 59 elevators, including five double-deck elevators capable of traveling, along with multiple escalators and sky lobbies.
    Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The regression in the Dolphins’ vertical passing game, a problem for most of last season, continued in the opener.
    Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 10 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • At first, the curious canine sniffs a paw, but soon follows the trail straight to the source—the black dog's ear.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Austin had won two straight before a 2-0 loss to Texas rival FC Dallas last weekend.
    Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 17 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • Power is delivered through a 9-speed transmission and fully variable all-wheel drive system.
    Mark Ewing, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
  • After the fire is fully contained, the next step is to control it.
    CA WILDFIRE BOT, Sacbee.com, 13 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • This employee was immediately put on administrative leave, and an investigation has begun.
    Jonathan Limehouse, USA Today, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Yet these productions are increasingly designed around an ethos of visual-over-depth that compels us to immediately document and post each scene.
    David Hochman, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Technology works, but scaling it to a level that meaningfully impacts global emissions is an entirely different challenge.
    Peter Bendor-Samuel, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025
  • At the meeting, city leaders expressed support for scaling back its congregate homeless facilities and instead focusing on micro-communities.
    Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Difficult Let’s do a complete walkthrough of today’s Difficult Pips.
    Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
  • The Pats drafted Tyquan Thornton in the second round in 2022 and cut him before his third season was complete.
    The Athletic NFL Staff, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • On the fateful day that inbound Soviet bombers filled the skies above America with godless communism, the horizontal Bomarc missiles would literally become erect, and fire vertically.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2025
  • The name of Fort Benning, for example, was suggested by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization that sought to rewrite history textbooks and erect monuments that honored the Confederacy and downplayed slavery's centrality to the Civil War.
    Davis Winkie, USA Today, 19 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Plumb.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plumb. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.

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