Plumber | Define Plumber at Dictionary.com

British Dictionary definitions for plumber Expand

a person who installs and repairs pipes, fixtures, etc, for water, drainage, and gas

Word Origin

C14: from Old French plommier worker in lead, from Late Latin plumbrius, from Latin plumbum lead

a weight, usually of lead, suspended at the end of a line and used to determine water depth or verticality

the perpendicular position of a freely suspended plumb line (esp in the phrases out of plumb, off plumb)

(prenominal) (informal, mainly US) (intensifier): a plumb nuisance

in a vertical or perpendicular line

(informal, mainly US) (intensifier): plumb stupid

(informal) exactly; precisely (also in the phrase plumb on)

(transitive) often foll by up. to test the alignment of or adjust to the vertical with a plumb line

(transitive) to undergo or experience (the worst extremes of misery, sadness, etc): to plumb the depths of despair

(transitive) to understand or master (something obscure): to plumb a mystery

to connect or join (a device such as a tap) to a water pipe or drainage system

Word Origin

C13: from Old French plomb (unattested) lead line, from Old French plon lead, from Latin plumbum lead

Word Origin and History for plumber Expand

late 14c. (from c.1100 as a surname), "a worker in any sort of lead" (roofs, gutters, pipes), from Old French plomier "lead-smelter" (Modern French plombier) and directly from Latin plumbarius "worker in lead," noun use of adjective meaning "pertaining to lead," from plumbum "lead" (see plumb (n.)). Meaning focused 19c. on "workman who installs pipes and fittings" as lead water pipes became the principal concern of the trade. In U.S. Nixon administration (1969-74), the name of a special unit for investigation of "leaks" of government secrets.

"lead hung on a string to show the vertical line," early 14c., from Old French *plombe, plomee "sounding lead," and directly from Late Latin *plumba, originally plural of Latin plumbum "lead (the metal), lead ball; pipe; pencil," a word of unknown origin, related to Greek molybdos "lead" (dialectal bolimos) and perhaps from an extinct Mediterranean language, perhaps Iberian.

early 15c., "to sink" (like lead), from plumb (n.). Meaning "take soundings with a plumb" is first recorded 1560s; figurative sense of "to get to the bottom of" is from 1590s. Related: Plumbed; plumbing.

"perpendicular, vertical," mid-15c., from plumb (n.). The notion of "exact measurement" led to extended sense of "completely, downright" (1748), sometimes spelled plump, plum, or plunk.

early 15c., "to sink" (like lead), from plumb (n.). Meaning "take soundings with a plumb" is first recorded 1560s; figurative sense of "to get to the bottom of" is from 1590s. Related: Plumbed; plumbing.

"perpendicular, vertical," mid-15c., from plumb (n.). The notion of "exact measurement" led to extended sense of "completely, downright" (1748), sometimes spelled plump, plum, or plunk.

Slang definitions & phrases for plumber Expand

noun

verb

To botch; ruin: I tho't I plumbered it (1930s+)

adverb

Completely; entirely; stone: What he said was plumb silly

[1748+; fr notions of exact extent and precision associated with the plumb bob or sailor's plumb line (for measuring depth of water), ultimately fr Latin plumbum, ''lead'']

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Plumber | Define Plumber at Dictionary.com