plummet

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English plommet (“ball of lead, plumb of a bob-line”), recorded since 1382, from Old French plommet or plomet, the diminutive of plom, plum (“lead, sounding lead”), from Latin plumbum (“lead”). The verb is first recorded in 1626, originally meaning “to fathom, take soundings", from the noun. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈplʌmɪt/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈplʌmət/ (Northern England) IPA(key): /plʊmɪt/ Rhymes: -ʌmɪt Hyphenation: plum‧met === Noun === plummet (plural plummets) (archaic, nautical) A piece of lead attached to a line, used in sounding the depth of water; a plumb bob or a plumb line. (archaic) Hence, any weight. (archaic) A piece of lead formerly used by schoolchildren to rule paper for writing (that is, to mark with rules, with lines). A violent or dramatic fall. (figuratively) A decline; a fall; a drop. ==== Translations ==== === Verb === plummet (third-person singular simple present plummets, present participle plummeting or (rare, nonstandard) plummetting, simple past and past participle plummeted or (rare, nonstandard) plummetted) (idiomatic, intransitive) To drop swiftly, in a direct manner; to fall quickly. ==== Synonyms ==== (to drop swiftly): dive, drop, fall ==== Antonyms ==== (antonym(s) of “to drop swiftly”): ascend, rise, rocket, soar, skyrocket ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === See also === plumb plumb line === References === Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “plummet”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.