English

Noun

plummet ‎(plural plummets)

1. (archaic) A piece of lead attached to a line, used in sounding the depth of water.
   • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 3 scene 3

     I'll sink him deeper than e'er plummet sounded.

2. (archaic) A plumb bob or a plumb line.
3. (archaic) Hence, any weight.
   • 1945, Ernie Pyle, Here is Your War: Story of G.I. Joe, The World Publishing Company (1945), page #93:

     His parachute was shot half away, and if he'd jumped he would have fallen like a plummet.

4. (archaic) A piece of lead formerly used by school children to rule paper for writing
5. a plummet line, a line with a plummet; a sounding line.
6. Violent or dramatic fall
7. (figuratively) decline; fall; drop
   • 2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC:

     Yet another seriously under-par performance is unlikely to provide any real answers to their remarkable plummet in form - but it proves they can at least churn out a much-needed result.

Translations

Verb

plummet ‎(third-person singular simple present plummets, present participle plummeting or plummetting, simple past and past participle plummeted or plummetted)

1. (intransitive) To drop swiftly, in a direct manner; to fall quickly.

   After its ascent, the arrow plummeted to earth.

Synonyms

• (to drop swiftly): dive, drop, fall

Antonyms

• (to drop swiftly): ascend, rise, rocket, soar, skyrocket

Translations

See also

• plumb line
• plumb

References

• “plummet” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).