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
  • For Bear, the new arrangement is great about 99 percent of the time… the only drawback is that Nikki occasionally snaps back into her old self and screams in utter terror for a few seconds, before resuming the love-bombing.
    Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Twenty-four years later, the shape of this new work of fiction highlights both the insufficiency of memory, of story, and their utter necessity.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 4 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
  • Everything seems to be straight out of Laura’s worst nightmare — until Daniel comes across his mother’s phone, charges it, and watches her last video message to him.
    Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Without appearing to look, Rogers flicked the ball round the corner, straight into the path of Madueke running in behind, cutting inwards from the right.
    Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • What began as a quick bite to hold me over until dinner turned into a fully fledged feast of lemon tagliolini with swordfish ragu, maccheroncini cacio e pepe with citrus, and paccheri pasta with tomatoes, burrata, and basil.
    Susmita Baral, Travel + Leisure, 7 Sep. 2025
  • By Saturday evening, the fire has been fully contained.
    CA WILDFIRE BOT, Sacbee.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • Moved by her mother’s words, the couple got engaged on July 23, 2025, and decided to plan their wedding immediately.
    Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Officers said — and video showed — the rancher moved his hands into his jacket after exiting his truck immediately following the crash.
    Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 7 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The researchers plan to scale up production and refine the technology for clinical trials.
    Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Musk transformed Tesla from a niche EV startup into the world's most valuable automaker, scaling production, expanding globally and pushing the industry toward electric mobility, while running several other companies including SpaceX and xAI.
    Akash Sriram, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Slickers County Ice Cream No trip to Prince Edward County is complete without a stop at this beloved small-batch ice cream shop.
    Alexandra Emanuelli, Travel + Leisure, 7 Sep. 2025
  • At that point, a new Border War chapter was all but complete, and this one came with huge moments, plot twists, momentum swings, the works.
    Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 7 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 12 Sep. 2025.

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