Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A feather, especially a large and showy one.
- n. A large feather or cluster of feathers worn as an ornament or symbol of rank, as on a helmet.
- n. A token of honor or achievement.
- n. A structure or form that is like a long feather: a plume of smoke.
- n. Ecology A space in air, water, or soil containing pollutants released from a point source.
- n. Geology An upwelling of molten material from the earth's mantle.
- v. To decorate, cover, or supply with or as if with plumes.
- v. To smooth (feathers); preen.
- v. To congratulate (oneself) in a self-satisfied way: plumed himself on his victory.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A feather. Technically, a pluma or penna: distinguished from
plumule . See cut underOreortyx . - n. A tuft of feathers; a set or bunch of plumes worn as an ornament; an egret; plumery.
- n. Plumage.
- n. A token of honor; a prize won by contest.
- n. In botany, same as plumule, 3.
- n. In entomology: A hair with many fine branches, resembling a little soft feather; a plumate hair.
- n. A plume-moth.
- n. A plumose part or formation, as of the gill of a crustacean or a mollusk.
- To dress the plumage of, as a bird; preen.
- To strip off the plumage of, as a bird; pluck.
- To adorn with feathers or plumes; feather; set as a plume; hence, to decorate or adorn (the person) in any way.
- To pride; boast: used reflexively: as, to plume one's self on one's skill.
Wiktionary
- n. A feather of a bird, especially a large or showy one.
- n. The rearmost appendage of certain dog breeds that stand erect or curl over their backs (eg Samoyed, Malteagle)
- n. A cluster of feathers worn as an ornament, especially on a helmet.
- n. An upward spray of water or mist.
- n. An upwelling of molten material from the Earth's mantle.
- n. An arc of glowing material erupting from the surface of a star.
- n. feather; en.
- v. To preen and arrange feathers.
- v. To congratulate oneself proudly.
- v. To form a plume
- v. To write; to pen.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A feather; esp., a soft, downy feather, or a long, conspicuous, or handsome feather.
- n. An ornamental tuft of feathers.
- n. A feather, or group of feathers, worn as an ornament; a waving ornament of hair, or other material resembling feathers.
- n. A token of honor or prowess; that on which one prides himself; a prize or reward.
- n. A large and flexible panicle of inflorescence resembling a feather, such as is seen in certain large ornamental grasses.
- v. To pick and adjust the plumes or feathers of; to dress or prink.
- v. To strip of feathers; to pluck; to strip; to pillage; also, to peel.
- v. To adorn with feathers or plumes.
- v. To pride; to vaunt; to boast; -- used reflexively.
WordNet 3.0
- v. be proud of
- v. clean with one's bill
- v. rip off; ask an unreasonable price
- v. dress or groom with elaborate care
- v. deck with a plume
- n. anything that resembles a feather in shape or lightness
- v. form a plume
- n. the light horny waterproof structure forming the external covering of birds
- n. a feather or cluster of feathers worn as an ornament
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old French, from Latin plūma.
Examples
“If it has come from something like that, then the airborne bacteria what we call a plume could have travelled over several kilometres given the right weather conditions, and that's the scenario we are looking at now.”
“February 21st, 2009 by admin plume over algae moss”
“A reader of the NYT article might expect to look at the plume from the plant's smokestacks and see lots of smoke.”
The Huffington Post: Bill Chameides: The Sorry State of Environmental Journalism
“The ash plume from the Icelandic volcano has continued to spread and has resulted in the grounding of flights in nearly 20 European nations.”
The Huffington Post: Fighter Jets Suffer Volcanic Damage: Why Resume Flying?
“I do believe that the Minister of Education using a nom de plume is very passe, especially when writing such crap.”
“The back plume from the explosion (the mushroom cloud) would be bent over the Mediterranean Sea re-entering the atmosphere over the Levant, Sinai, and Northern Egypt.”
Assyrian clay tablet points to ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ asteroid « Isegoria
“Behind him the pickup lifted a powdery plume from the road and the suspended dust shone like bright flecks of gold in the sun.”
“I would like to respond to the remarks of sugar magnolia, on posts 35, 39, 43, 46, and 70, whose choice of nom de plume is a travesty against Jerry and the boys, who would consider the remarks from that person as disingenuous at best, at worst, dishonest propaganda essentially because it is cherry-picking a few facts and attempting to weave from such linters whole broadcloths of misrepresentations.”
Think Progress » Attacking Global Warming Science: Where There’s George Will, There’s a Way
“We had a reasonable amount of snow during the holiday, but our first clear day in awhile features near-zero temperatures (Fahrenheit) and a smelly dioxin plume from a pulp mill, about 150 miles north of here, in Canada.”
“So his nom de plume translates to something like "high brow," or perhaps "Max Headroom.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘plume’.
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ghost
This is Ghost List 2 ( the kind that go 'boo!' ) :P
phantom, spectral, specter, spectre, spooky, poltergeist, haunt, spirit, banshee, cryptic, shadow, phantasm and 294 more...
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smoooth
satined, sleek, glossy, legato, uncrannied, suave, smoothen, polish, satiny, flowing, levigate, politic and 77 more...
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2
kerniving, scandinavia, confectionary, mangrove, bejewelled, flesh, crystalline, gazelle, pantaloons, bluebird, caribou, albatross and 88 more...

yarb Citation on fogram. Sep 18, 2008