HOW TO PRONOUNCE
plumber
/ˈplʌm.əɹ/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:49
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The b has no separate sound.
Stress PLUM, with the vowel in cup. The b is silent; move from m into the r-colored ending.
TRY SAYING
“Call the plumber.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗What does plumber mean?
noun
- One who furnishes, fits, and repairs pipes and other apparatus for the conveyance of water, gas, or drainage.
- (slang) A person who investigates or prevents leaks of information.
- (informal) In the Royal Navy, an apprentice, a boy aged 16 to 18, who is trained in technical skills at the Dockyard Schools to become an artificer.
More meanings (7)
verb
- (slang) To botch or ruin.
- (informal, rare) To work as a plumber.
- (informal, rare) To work on (something) as a plumber.
- (rare, slang) To do, work, devise (something).
- (informal, rare) To equip (something) with plumbing.
noun
- (dated) One who works in or with lead.
- (derogatory, slang) A urologist.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈplʌm.əɹ/
Pronunciation used in the listening tip.
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
“No. I’ve got a commission. I’m painting the portrait of a retired plumber for two hundred francs.”
“I got a mould to make to-morrow,” McTeague said, “and Vanovitch, that plumber round on Sutter Street, he's coming again at three.”
More book examples (3)
A plumber was to him the devil, and I have no doubt that, in his scheme, plumbers were foreordained to do him mischief.
“I am my own engineer, and my own carpenter, and my own plumber, and my own gardener, and my own Jack of all Trades,” said Wemmick, in acknowledging my compliments.
However Jones, in addition to his ability as a surgeon, showed himself to be an excellent plumber, brazier and tinsmith, and the Hut was well lighted all the time we occupied it.