Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To drop abruptly or heavily.
  • intransitive verb To give full support or praise.
  • intransitive verb To throw down or drop (something) abruptly or heavily.
  • noun A heavy or abrupt fall or collision.
  • noun The sound of a heavy fall or collision.
  • adjective Blunt; direct.
  • adverb With a heavy or abrupt drop.
  • adverb With a full or sudden impact.
  • adverb Directly.
  • adverb Without qualification; bluntly.
  • adjective Well-rounded and full in form; chubby. synonym: fat.
  • adjective Abundant; ample.
  • intransitive verb To make well-rounded or full in form.
  • intransitive verb To become well-rounded, chubby, or full in form.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • At once, as with a sudden heavy fall; suddenly; heavily; without warning or preparation; very unexpectedly; downright; right.
  • Full and well-rounded; hence,of a person, fleshy; fat; chubby: as, a plump figure; a plump habit of body; of things, filled out and distended; rounded: as, a plump seed.
  • Figuratively, round; fat; large; full.
  • Dry; hard.
  • Blunt; downright; unreserved; unqualified: as, a plump lie.
  • noun A sudden heavy downfall of rain.
  • noun A knot; a cluster; a group; a clump; a number of persons, animals, or things closely united or standing together; a covey.
  • To grow plump; enlarge to fullness; swell.
  • To make plump, full, or distended; extend to fullness; dilate; fatten.
  • To plunge or fall like a heavy mass or lump of dead matter; fall suddenly.
  • To vote for a single candidate, when one has the right to vote for two or more
  • To cause to fall suddenly and heavily: as, to plump a stone into water

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Well rounded or filled out; full; fleshy; fat
  • adjective Done or made plump, or suddenly and without reservation; blunt; unreserved; direct; downright.
  • adverb Directly; suddenly; perpendicularly.
  • intransitive verb To grow plump; to swell out.
  • intransitive verb To drop or fall suddenly or heavily, all at once.
  • intransitive verb To give a plumper. See Plumper, 2.
  • transitive verb To make plump; to fill (out) or support; -- often with up.
  • transitive verb To cast or let drop all at once, suddenly and heavily.
  • transitive verb To give (a vote), as a plumper. See Plumper, 2.
  • noun obsolete A knot; a cluster; a group; a crowd; a flock.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive To grow plump; to swell out; as, her cheeks have plumped.
  • verb intransitive To drop or fall suddenly or heavily, all at once.
  • verb intransitive To give a plumper.
  • verb transitive To make plump; to fill (out) or support; often with up.
  • verb transitive To cast or let drop all at once, suddenly and heavily; as, to plump a stone into water.
  • verb transitive To give (a vote), as a plumper.
  • adjective Having a full and rounded shape; chubby, somewhat overweight.
  • adjective Fat.
  • adverb Directly; suddenly; perpendicularly.
  • noun obsolete A knot or cluster; a group; a crowd.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb straight down especially heavily or abruptly
  • verb drop sharply
  • noun the sound of a sudden heavy fall

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English plumpen, to immerse quickly, perhaps from Middle Low German, probably of imitative origin.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, dull, probably from Middle Low German plomp, blunt, thick.]

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Examples

  • And running his eyes over those still standing on the bank, he called a plump little woman, the wife of a Llandaff tutor, who had been walking with Mrs. Hooper.

    Lady Connie Humphry Ward 1885

  • "Look," he said, "on these fellows, that we call the plump Hollanders; behold their diligence in fishing, and our own careless negligence!"

    Men of Invention and Industry Samuel Smiles 1858

  • September 10, 2009 at 9:25 pm who u be calling plump!

    Strange, I - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2009

  • “O, slothful England and careless countrymen! look but on these fellows that we call the plump Hollanders!

    Andrew Marvell Birrell, Augustine, 1850-1933 1905

  • 'There was a time when I was called plump Reuben,' quoth my friend, as we rode together up the winding track.

    Micah Clarke His Statement as made to his three grandchildren Joseph, Gervas and Reuben During the Hard Winter of 1734 Arthur Conan Doyle 1894

  • At the end of another six months the men called her plump, and the women fat.

    Tommy and Co. 1893

  • That young lassie will get described as plump some day, if she doesn't take care.

    Somehow Good William Frend De Morgan 1878

  • Nancy, Polly and Peggy -- four blooming lasses of ages ranging from ten to fourteen, and bearing to each other so strong a family likeness that they may collectively be described as plump, fair, rosy, blue-eyed and brown-haired.

    Her Mother's Secret Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth 1859

  • As one friend remembers, Denny had a personality "that could fill a room", but she was beset with insecurities about her appearance - she was devastated when a music journalist referred to her as "plump" - and her career was increasingly undermined by heavy drinking and drug use.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Mick Brown 2011

  • As one friend remembers, Denny had a personality "that could fill a room", but she was beset with insecurities about her appearance - she was devastated when a music journalist referred to her as "plump" - and her career was increasingly undermined by heavy drinking and drug use.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Mick Brown 2011

Comments

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  • A flock of waterfowl

    November 16, 2007

  • This word is in such an interesting mix of positive and negative lists!

    May 30, 2011