HOW TO PRONOUNCE
plunge
/plʌndʒ/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:03
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What does plunge mean?
verb
- To thrust into liquid, or into any penetrable substance; to immerse.
- (figuratively) To cast, stab or throw deep and fast into some thing, state, condition or action.
- To dive, leap or rush (into water or some liquid); to submerge oneself.
More meanings (13)
verb
- (figuratively) To fall or rush headlong into some thing, action, state or condition.
- To pitch or throw oneself headlong or violently forward, as a horse does.
- (slang) To bet heavily and recklessly; to risk large sums in gambling.
- To remove a blockage by suction.
- (obsolete) To baptize by immersion.
- (obsolete) To entangle or embarrass (mostly used in past participle).
- (obsolete) To overwhelm, overpower.
noun
- The act of plunging or submerging.
- A dive, leap, rush, or pitch into (into water).
- (figuratively) The act of pitching or throwing oneself headlong or violently forward, like an unruly horse.
- (slang) Heavy and reckless betting in horse racing; hazardous speculation.
- (dated) A swimming pool.
- (obsolete) An immersion in difficulty, embarrassment, or distress; the condition of being surrounded or overwhelmed; a strait; difficulty.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/plʌndʒ/
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
The ocean was, after all, very large, and when one took one’s plunge one seemed to have it quite to one’s self.
He wanted to plunge in and expostulate with her, and yet he found himself fishing for words and feeling for a way.
More book examples (3)
I wish I could plunge you at once into the excitements of big game in Africa, but I cannot truthfully do so.
The double tier of wreckage now swept forward, and hurled itself with a sullen plunge against the cutwaters of my stone piers.
At the approach of dawn, they return to the spring, plunge into it, lose their furry skins, and regain their deserted beds.