plumb

Word family

plumb1 /plʌm/ verb [transitiveT] → plum

1 plumb the depths (of despair/misery/bad taste etc) VERYto feel an unpleasant emotion in a very extreme way, or to behave in a way that is extremely unpleasant or morally bad 陷入（绝望/痛苦等的）深渊；（品位等）低级至极

When his wife left him, Matt plumbed the very depths of despair.

妻子离他而去，马特陷入了绝望的深渊。

That night they plumbed the depths of treachery and horror, and murdered the king as he slept.

那天夜晚他们彻底背叛，采用极端恐怖的手段，趁国王熟睡之际杀害了他。

2 UNDERSTANDto succeed in understanding something completely 查明，探明，完全理解 SYN fathom

Psychologists try to plumb the deepest mysteries of the human psyche.

心理学家试图探究人类心理最深层的奥秘。

3.plumb something ↔ in phrasal verbphr v DHTto connect a piece of equipment such as a washing machine to the water supply 将〔洗衣机等电器〕与水管接通

Examples from the Corpus

plumb in• Remodeling a kitchen may have an impact on plumbing pipes in an upstairs or adjacent bath.• For now, that river plumbing system remains in good shape.

Examples from the Corpus

plumb• Who can plumb and penetrate such a person?• The system easily plumbs into existing induction hoppers.• Much mystique surrounds this territory as nobody has yet plumbed its limitations or possibilities.• The government said today that consumer confidence in December plumbed its lowest level ever since consumer surveys started, in January 1987.• Dubus, in his essays, tries to plumb the feelings of women.

plumb2 adverbadv

1 [always + adverbadv/prepositionprep] informalEXACT exactly 精确地，正，恰恰

The bullet hit him plumb between the eyes.

子弹正中他的眉心。

2 American EnglishAmE informalVERY completely – often used humorously 完全地〔常为幽默用法〕

The whole idea sounds plumb crazy to me.

整个想法在我听来简直是疯了。

Examples from the Corpus

plumb• Josefina and I were plumb about to lose it.• Gets out there with them statues, she gets plumb crazy.• I'm sorry. I plumb forgot.

plumb3 adjectiveadj technical

1. HORIZONTALVERTICALexactly upright or level 垂直的；水平的

2. out of plumb technical HORIZONTALVERTICALnot exactly upright or level 不垂直[水平]的，倾斜的

Examples from the Corpus

plumb• The sides, or jambs, must also be straight, plumb and square with the sill.• A plumb bob is useful to check the alignment of the header with the sill.• Twittering song uttered in soaring display flight, followed by butterfly-like descent with wings raised and a final plumb drop.• If any walls appear to lean, check by going back to the nearest upper window and drop a plumb line down.• But again, as with the lintels, the union did not allow the bricklayers to use a plumb line.• The barometer had dropped like a plumb weight.

Origin plumb1