plunge Definition
plunge (plunj)
transitive verb plunged, plung′·ing
to thrust, throw, or force suddenly (into a liquid, hole, condition, etc.) to plunge an oar into the water, to plunge a country into debt
Etymology: ME plungen < OFr plongier < VL *plumbicare < L plumbum, lead: see plumb
intransitive verb
- to throw oneself, dive, or rush, as into water, a fight, etc.
- to move violently and rapidly downward or forward
- to pitch, as a ship
- to slope steeply, as a road
- to extend far down in a revealing way a plunging neckline or back
- Informal to spend, gamble, or speculate heavily or rashly
noun
- a dive or downward leap
- a swim
- any sudden, violent plunging motion
- a place for plunging, or swimming
- Informal a heavy, rash investment or speculation
plunge Idioms
take the plunge
to start on a new and seemingly uncertain enterprise, esp. after some hesitation
plunge* Synonyms
plunge*
n.
take the plunge*
plunge Synonyms
plunge Usage Examples
Object
- neckline: Throw plunging necklines in with the rest of ' em.
- knife: The court was told that it was actually Mr Smith's father who plunged the knife into Mr Monville's leg.
- cliff: The views from the rim are stunning, with plunging cliffs cutting through millions of years of geological history.
- sword: He comes upon the women, sleeping in her bed with her child, and murders her by plunging a sword through her body.
Converse of object
take: The end result, the baby penguins taking the plunge into the water for the first time, is also moving.
Adjective modifier
- polar: It seems mad in these temperatures, almost as mad as the polar plunge.
- sudden: The horse, ridden by a youth later to become my father, made a sudden plunge and swam quickly out of its depth.
Preposition: over
cliff: The Moonbus moves off, and trying to take a turning too fast, it plunges over the cliff and onto the rocks below.
Preposition: into
- darkness: They are both plunged into the darkness of their hearts.
- chaos: But their ecological paradise is about to be plunged into chaos.
- recession: Many tourists subsequently stayed away from the island and the country's tourism industry plunged into serious recession.
- despair: The gospels tell us that after His death the disciples were plunged into despair.
- crisis: With the advent of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodian Islam was plunged into crisis.
- sea: Watch the cliff divers plunge into the deep blue sea below.
Modifies a noun
- pool: Two Deluxe Ocean View Rooms are located on the ground floor, each having a large private garden area with a private plunge pool.
- router: The main decision when purchasing a DeWalt router is whether a fixed base or plunge router is needed.
- bath: No person can use a plunge bath without risk.
Modifying Another Word
- headlong: Following a brief rest here we plunged headlong into the Link Crawl.
- headfirst: However, we strongly advise teachers to tackle the pre-reading activities first and not to plunge headfirst into the story.
Preposition: in
darkness: The neglected arts have always perished in strange lands whose judgment lies plunged in darkness.
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