plump

views updated Jun 08 2018

plump1 / pləmp/ • adj. having a full rounded shape: the berries were plump and sweet. ∎  slightly fat.• v. [tr.] shake or pat (a cushion or pillow) to adjust its stuffing and make it rounded and soft: she plumped up her pillows. ∎  [intr.] (plump up) become rounder and fatter: stew the dried fruits gently until they plump up.DERIVATIVES: plump·ish adj.plump·ly adv.plump·ness n.plump·y adj.plump2 • v. 1. [tr.] set down heavily or unceremoniously: she plumped her bag on the table. ∎  (plump oneself) sit down in this way: she plumped herself down in the nearest seat | [intr.] he plumped down on the bench beside me. 2. [intr.] (plump for) decide definitely in favor of (one of two or more possibilities): offered a choice of drinks, he plumped for brandy.• n. archaic an abrupt plunge; a heavy fall.• adv. inf. 1. with a sudden or heavy fall: she sat down plump on the bed.2. dated directly and bluntly: he must tell her plump and plain that he was collecting unemployment.

Plump

views updated May 14 2018

Plump

a knot; a tuft; a cluster; a number joined together in one massJohnson, 1755; a compact body of persons, animals, or things. See also bunch, clump, company, flock, etc.

Examples : plump of coleworts; of conjectures and great presumptions, 1553; of green corn, 1575; of deeps (the oceans), 1535; of ducks, 1854; of folk, 1489; of hazelnuts; of moorhens; of pains, 1568; of resolution, 1659; of seals, 1591; of spearmen, 1548; of trees, 1615; of orchard trees, 1868; of whales, 1834; of wild fowl, 1697; of wood (a copse), 1470; of yachts (at anchor), 1893.

plump

views updated May 29 2018

plump1 fall or come down with heavy and abrupt impact XIV; trans. XV; blurt out XVI; vote for one candidate only XIX. — (M)LG. plumpen = (M)Du. plompen fall into water; of imit. orig. In the last sense f. plump adv. (XVI), e.g. refuse plump, †vote plump.

plump

views updated May 29 2018

plump2 †dull, blockish XV; of full and rounded form XVI. ME. plompe — (M)Du. plomp, MLG. plomp, plump blunt, obtuse, unshapen, blockish, perh. ult. identical with prec.