plunk

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American, Scotland) IPA(key): /plʌŋk/ Rhymes: -ʌŋk === Etymology 1 === Onomatopoeic; the noun is attested earlier than the verb. Noun noun sense 3 (“dollar; large sum of money”) may refer to the sound of a coin hitting a surface. Compare plonk, plink. As regards verb verb sense 1.4 (“(transitive) to drop, set, or throw (something, or oneself) abruptly and/or heavily”) and verb sense 2.4 (“(intransitive) to drop, land, or set abruptly and/or heavily”), compare French plonquer (Picardy), a variant of plonger (“to plunge”). ==== Noun ==== plunk (plural plunks) A brief, dull sound, such as the sound of a string of a stringed instrument being plucked, or the thud of something landing on a surface. (thud): Synonyms: plonk, plump (informal) A (heavy) blow or hit. (slang) (US, archaic or obsolete) A dollar. (obsolete, rare) A large sum of money. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Adverb ==== plunk (not comparable) (originally Scotland, informal) With a brief, dull sound, such as the thud of something landing on a surface. (by extension) Directly, exactly, precisely. Synonyms: plump; see also Thesaurus:exactly ===== Translations ===== ==== Interjection ==== plunk Often reduplicated: used to represent a brief, dull sound, such as the sound of a string of a stringed instrument being plucked, or the thud of something landing on a surface. ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== plunk (third-person singular simple present plunks, present participle plunking, simple past and past participle plunked) (transitive) To move (something) with a sudden push. (figurative) Chiefly followed by down or out: to pay (money); to plank. (music) To pluck and quickly release (a string of a stringed instrument); also, to play (a stringed instrument) by plucking strings; to play (a piano, etc.) by striking keys; or, to play (a note or tune) on such an instrument. Synonym: (stringed instrument) twang (also reflexive, originally Scotland) Often followed by down: to drop, set, or throw (something, or oneself) abruptly and/or heavily into or on to a surface or some other thing, making a dull sound; to plump. Synonyms: flump, thud (chiefly US) To hit or injure (someone or something); also, to shoot (someone or something) with a firearm. (baseball) To pitch a ball in a way that it hits (a player). (intransitive) To make a brief, dull sound, such as the thud of something landing on a surface; to thud. (figurative) Followed by for: to choose, to opt; to plump. (music) To pluck and quickly release a string of a musical instrument; also, to play a stringed instrument by plucking strings; to play a piano, etc., by striking keys; or, to play a note or tune on such an instrument. (originally Scotland) Often followed by down: to drop, land, or set abruptly and/or heavily into or on to a surface or some other thing with a dull sound; to plump down. (obsolete) Of a raven: to croak. ===== Derived terms ===== plunker plunking (adjective, noun) ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === Origin uncertain; possibly the same as plunk (etymology 1), or related to Dutch plenken (“(archaic) to wander around; (Limburg, archaic) to play truant”). ==== Verb ==== plunk (third-person singular simple present plunks, present participle plunking, simple past and past participle plunked) (Scotland) (transitive) To be absent from (school) without permission; to be a truant. (intransitive) To play truant. ===== Translations ===== === References === === Further reading === “plunk, v.2”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.