plumb
gb/plˈʌm/ us/plˈʌm/
B2
Inglese
Accezioni
0 accezioni
Verbo
B2
action
1
install or repair pipes
To put in or fix water pipes in a building.
Schema d'uso:
[someone] plumbs [a building/room/system]
Errore comune:
Don’t confuse plumb (install pipes) with plumber (the person who does it).
Sinonimi
pipe (More general; can mean fitting pipes for many purposes.)
|
install (Broader; not specific to pipework.)
Contrari
disconnect (Focuses on undoing a connection rather than installing it.)
Collocazioni
plumb a house
|plumb a bathroom
|plumb a kitchen
|plumb a new build
|plumb the basement
|plumb a system
|newly plumbed
|professionally plumbed
Temi
home
|work
|construction
Esempi
- They hired a contractor to plumb the new bathroom.
- The house was plumbed for gas as well as water.
- We’re plumbing the extension before the walls go up.
Esempi per chi studia
- They will plumb the kitchen next week.
- This house is fully plumbed.
adjective
technical
B2
property
2
exactly vertical and straight
Perfectly straight up and down.
Schema d'uso:
[something] is plumb
Errore comune:
Plumb means vertical; level means horizontal.
Sinonimi
vertical (More common, less trade-specific.)
|
upright (Can also suggest a standing position, not just exact alignment.)
Contrari
tilted (Not straight up and down.)
|
slanted (At an angle instead of vertical.)
Collocazioni
plumb wall
|plumb line
|plumb post
|keep it plumb
|set it plumb
|check if it's plumb
|perfectly plumb
Temi
construction
|tools
Esempi
- The fence posts need to be plumb before the concrete sets.
- This corner of the wall isn’t plumb, so the cabinet won’t fit.
- Use a level to make sure the frame is plumb.
Esempi per chi studia
- Make the pole plumb.
- The door frame is not plumb.
Verbo
literary
C1
process
3
understand or explore deeply
To try to understand something very deeply.
Schema d'uso:
plumb [something] (for [something])
Errore comune:
Often used in more formal or literary writing; in everyday speech people usually say understand or figure out.
Sinonimi
fathom (Emphasizes understanding; often used with negatives (can’t fathom).)
|
probe (Emphasizes investigation and questioning.)
|
delve (Often used with into; suggests researching or examining details.)
Contrari
skim (To look at something only superficially.)
|
overlook (To miss or fail to consider something important.)
Collocazioni
plumb the mystery
|plumb the meaning
|plumb the reasons
|plumb the mind
|plumb the past
|plumb the truth
|plumb the depths
Temi
learning
|literature
|psychology
Esempi
- The film tries to plumb the causes of his anger.
- Researchers are plumbing the data for patterns.
- She wrote essays that plumbed the contradictions of modern life.
Esempi per chi studia
- He tried to plumb the meaning of the poem.
Verbo
technical
C1
action
4
measure depth of water
To measure how deep water is.
Schema d'uso:
plumb [water/a channel/a depth]
Sinonimi
sound (Standard nautical verb for measuring depth.)
|
gauge (More general measuring; not specifically by line.)
Contrari
guess (Estimate without measuring.)
Collocazioni
plumb the depth
|plumb the river
|plumb the harbor
|plumb the channel
|plumb the waters
Temi
nature
|travel
|nautical
Esempi
- Before anchoring, they plumbed the depth to make sure it was safe.
- The crew plumbed the channel after the storm shifted the sandbar.
- Early surveyors plumbed the lake in several places.
Esempi per chi studia
- They plumbed the water to find its depth.
Sostantivo
technical
C1
entity
5
a weight on a string
A tool weight used to check what is straight up and down.
Schema d'uso:
a plumb
Sinonimi
plumb bob (More common name for the weight itself.)
Contrari
level (A different tool/idea (horizontal), not an opposite object.)
Collocazioni
hang a plumb
|use a plumb
|a heavy plumb
|a brass plumb
Temi
tools
|construction
Esempi
- He dropped a plumb from the beam to mark a straight line on the floor.
- A plumb is useful when you need a truly vertical reference.
adverb
literary
C1
relation
6
directly; exactly in a place
Exactly or directly (in a position).
Schema d'uso:
plumb [adverbial/preposition phrase]
Sinonimi
right (Very common; can also mean correct.)
|
directly (More neutral and explicit.)
|
straight (Often suggests an unbroken line or path.)
Contrari
indirectly (Not in a direct line or position.)
|
off-center (Not exactly in the middle or target position.)
Collocazioni
plumb in the middle
|plumb under
|plumb between
|plumb center
Temi
daily_life
|space_location
Esempi
- The nail went plumb through the board.
- The café sits plumb in the center of the square.
- The stone dropped plumb to the bottom.
Esempi per chi studia
- The shop is plumb in the middle of town.
adverb
informal
C1
quantity
7
completely; entirely (regional)
Completely (used to make an adjective stronger).
Schema d'uso:
plumb + [adjective]
Errore comune:
This use is regional/dialectal; in standard international English, completely or totally is more common.
Sinonimi
completely (Neutral and widely used.)
|
totally (Common in speech; can sound emphatic.)
|
utterly (Often stronger and more formal.)
Contrari
partly (Only to some extent.)
|
somewhat (To a moderate degree.)
Collocazioni
plumb exhausted
|plumb tired
|plumb crazy
|plumb wrong
|plumb sure
Temi
daily_life
|emotions
Esempi
- By the end of the hike, I was plumb exhausted.
- He was plumb certain he’d locked the door.
- That explanation is plumb wrong.
Grammatica
Forma base
plumb
IPA
GB/plˈʌm/
US/plˈʌm/
Sillabe e accento
plumb (1 sillaba)
Stress on 1st syllable (plumb)
Forme flesse
Adjective
- Base: plumb
Noun
- Base: plumb
- Plural: plumbs
Verb
- Base: plumb
- 3rd Person Singular: plumbs
- Present Participle: plumbing
- Past: plumbed
Famiglia di parole
Forms
plumbs
noun
plumbing
verb
plumbed
verb
Core family
plumber
noun A2
Advanced or less common
unplumbed
adjective
Espressioni
out of plumb
1/ˈaʊt əv plˈʌm/
fixed phrase
technical
not vertical or straight
Not straight up and down.
Esempi
- The door frame is out of plumb, so the door keeps rubbing.
- If the posts are out of plumb, the whole fence will look crooked.
- The installer fixed the cabinet after noticing it was out of plumb.
plumb in
1/plˈʌm ˈɪn/
phrasal verb
connect to water or drains
To connect something to the water pipes.
Esempi
- We had the dishwasher plumbed in under the counter.
- The contractor will plumb in the new sink tomorrow.
- Is the fridge plumbed in for the ice maker?
plumb line
1/plˈʌm lˈaɪn/
fixed phrase
technical
string used to check vertical
A string and weight used to check if something is vertical.
Esempi
- He used a plumb line to align the corner posts.
- A plumb line is a simple way to find true vertical.
- Drop a plumb line from the ceiling and mark where it lands.
plumb the depths (of something)
1/plˈʌm ðə dˈɛpθs əv sˈʌmθɪŋ/
idiom
literary
explore the deepest parts
To try to understand something in the deepest way.
Esempi
- Her memoir plumbs the depths of grief after a loss.
- The documentary plumbs the depths of political corruption.
- Few novels plumb the depths of loneliness like this one.