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Webster 1913 Edition


Plum

Plum

,
Noun.
[AS.
plūme
, fr. L.
prunum
; akin to Gr. [GREEK], [GREEK]. Cf.
Prune
a dried plum.]
1.
(Bot.)
The edible drupaceous fruit of the
Prunus domestica
, and of several other species of
Prunus
; also, the tree itself, usually called
plum tree
.
The bullace, the damson, and the numerous varieties of
plum
, of our gardens, although growing into thornless trees, are believed to be varieties of the blackthorn, produced by long cultivation.
G. Bentham.
☞ Two or three hundred varieties of plums derived from the
Prunus domestica
are described; among them the
greengage
, the
Orleans
, the
purple gage
, or
Reine Claude Violette
, and the
German prune
, are some of the best known.
☞ Among the true plums are;
Beach plum
, the
Prunus maritima
, and its crimson or purple globular drupes, –
Bullace plum
. See
Bullace
. –
Chickasaw plum
, the American
Prunus Chicasa
, and its round red drupes. –
Orleans plum
, a dark reddish purple plum of medium size, much grown in England for sale in the markets. –
Wild plum of America
,
Prunus Americana
, with red or yellow fruit, the original of the
Iowa plum
and several other varieties.
Among plants called plum, but of other genera than
Prunus
, are;
Australian plum
,
Cargillia arborea
and
Cargillia australis
, of the same family with the persimmon. –
Blood plum
, the West African
Hæmatostaphes Barteri
. –
Cocoa plum
, the Spanish nectarine. See under
Nectarine
. –
Date plum
. See under
Date
. –
Gingerbread plum
, the West African
Parinarium macrophyllum
. –
Gopher plum
, the Ogeechee lime. –
Gray plum
,
Guinea plum
. See under
Guinea
. –
Indian plum
, several species of
Flacourtia
.
2.
A grape dried in the sun; a raisin.
3.
A handsome fortune or property; formerly, in cant language, the sum of £100,000 sterling; also, the person possessing it.
Plum bird
,
Plum budder
(Zool.)
,
the European bullfinch.
Plum gouger
(Zool.)
,
a weevil, or curculio (
Coccotorus scutellaris
), which destroys plums. It makes round holes in the pulp, for the reception of its eggs. The larva bores into the stone and eats the kernel.
Plum weevil
(Zool.)
,
an American weevil which is very destructive to plums, nectarines, cherries, and many other stone fruits. It lays its eggs in crescent-shaped incisions made with its jaws. The larva lives upon the pulp around the stone. Called also
turk
, and
plum curculio
. See Illust. under
Curculio
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Plum

PLUM

, n.
1.
The fruit of a tree belonging to the genus Prunus. The fruit is a drupe, containing a nut or stone with prominent sutures and inclosing a kernel. The varieties of the plum are numerous and well known.
2.
A grape dried in the sun; a raisin.
3.
The sum of f100,000 sterling.
4.
A kind of play.
[Dr. Johnson remarks that this word is often written improperly plumb. This is true, not only of this word, but of all words in which b follows m, as in thumb, dumb, &c.]

Definition 2024


plüm

plüm

See also: plum

Volapük

Noun

plüm (plural plüms)

  1. feather

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms