Ptumularia JUinil<i , natural size. 
Plumstead Peculiars 
Plumstead Peculiars. Same us Vn-nliur People 
(which see, under jMonttor), 
plum-tree (plum'tre), . [< ME. plumtre, < 
AS. plunttretiw (= Sw. plommnntrad = Dan. 
hli mi metrte), < plume, plum, + treow, tree.] A 
tree that produces plums. See plum 1 . 
plumula(plo'mu-la),.; }>].plumulse(-\o). [NL., 
< L. plumutd, a little feather: see plumule.] 
Same as plumule. 
plumulaceous (plO-mu-la'shius), n. [< NL. 
*l>lnmulaceus,(. ii. plumula, apluraule: seeplu- 
mttle.] Downy; of or pertaining to a plumule; 
inornith., not pennaceous. See plumule. 
plumular (plo'mu-liir), a. [< plumula + -ar 3 .] 
In ornith., of or pertaining to a plumula or plu- 
mule ; plumulaceous. 
Plumularia (pl8-mu-la'ri-ii), n. [NL. (La- 
marck), < ii.tilumuln, 
a little feather: see 
plumule.'] The typi- 
cal genus of Plumu- 
lariidse. P.filiculais 
an example. 
plumularian (plo- 
mu-la'ri-an), a. and 
n. ' [< Ptumularia + 
-an.] I. a. Pertain- 
ing to the genus Plu- 
mularia or the fam- 
ily Plumulariidx, or 
having their charac- 
ters: correlated with 
sertularian and PI- 
panularian. 
II. n. A member of 
the Ptitmulariidie. 
Plumulariidse (plo'- 
mu-la-ri'i-de), n. pi. 
[tfL., < Plumularia 
+ -idee.'] A family 
of hydroid polyps or calyptoblastic Hydromc- 
dusee, typified by the genus Plumularia, having 
sessile polypites in hydrothecse on only one side 
of the branched polyp-stock. They are colonial, and 
Include gastrozooids, generative zooids, and machopolyps, 
the first-named with one vertlcel ot filiform tentacles. 
plumulate (plo'mu-lat), a. [< plumula + -ate 1 .} 
In lii>/.. minutely plumose. 
plumule (plo'inul), n. [< L. plumula, a little 
feather, dim. of pluma, a feather: see plume.] 
1. In ornith., a down-feather; a feather of 
plumulaceous structure throughout. 2. In en- 
torn.: (a) A little plume-like organ or ornament. 
(h) One of the peculiar obcordate scales found 
on the wings of certain lopidopterous insects, 
as Pieridse. 
3. The bud of 
the ascend- 
ing axis of a 
plant while 
still in the 
embryo, situ- 
ated at the 
apex of the 
caulicle (or 
radicle), 
above the 
base of the 
cotyledon or 
cotyledons, 
and inclosed 
by them 
when there 
are two or 
more. In such 
seeds as the 
bean and beech- 
nut it consists of 
rudimentary 
pair of leaves 
of a feather- 
like appear- 
ance, while in 
the pea and 
acorn it is a rudimentary stem which will develop leaves 
only when germination is considerably advanced. In these 
examples the plumule is manifest, but often it is scarcely 
visible to the naked rye until the seed begins to germinate. 
.See also cuts under exogen and inonocotyledonous. 
plumuliform (pl6"mu-li-form), <i. [< L. plu- 
mula, a plumule, + forma, form.] Having the 
appearance of a small feather. Thomas, Med. 
Diet. 
plumulose (plo'mu-los), a. [< plumule + -ose.] 
In entom., branching laterally, as the hairs of 
an insect, and thus resembling downy feathers 
or plumules. 
plum-weevil (plum'we'vl), . A weevil which 
infests the plum; the plum-curculio. See cuts 
under OtMtOfracfohu an 
I, the seed of I'icia Fatta, one cotyledon de- 
tached; 2, germinating plnntlet or i y/vrj/s 
vtpftKs; 3, germinating pl.imlet of Ipomara fa- 
Htculata ; 4, germinating plantlet of KiifHrn 
A/oorfrqftitinuM, showing the plumule break- 
ing through the tnlml.tr base of the petioles of 
the cotyledons. Lot, cotyledon ; I\ plumule ; 
A', root. 
4560 
plumy (pld'mi), . [< plume + -yi.] 1. Re- 
sembling a feather; feathery. 
Ai thlcke as when a drift wind shakes 
Black clouds In pieces, and plucks now In great and 
plumie Hakes 
From their soft bosomes, till the ground be wholly cloth 'd 
in white. Chapman, Iliad, xil. 
2. Plumed ; adorned with plumes. 
Appeared his plumy crest, besmeared with blood. 
Additon. 
And Murray's plumy helmet rings 
Kings on the ground, to rise no more. 
Scalt, C'adyow Castle. 
3. Plumaged; feathered. 
Angels on full sail of wings flew nigh, 
Who on their plumy vans received bun soft 
Milton, P. K., Ir. 683. 
A well 
Shrouded with willow-flowers and plumy fern. 
Wordsworth, Excursion, I. 
plunder (plun'der), . [< MD. plunder, plonder, 
household effects, furniture, < G. plunder, 
household effects, furniture, baggage, lumber, 
trumpery, rags, late MHO. plunder, blunder, 
household effects, clothing, washing (also bed- 
clothing!); cf. MLG. plunder, plunde(incoTm>.), 
clothing, plunder, wonder, spoil, booty, LG. 
pluntie, plunn, in pi. plunnen, plundeii, house- 
hold trumpery, rags, = D. plunje, sailor's lug- 
gage, etc. ; ulterior origin obscure. In defs. 2 
and 3 from the verb: see plunder, r.] 1. House- 
hold or personal effects; baggage; luggage. 
[Local, U. 8.] 
An American, by his boasting of the superiority of the 
Americans generally, but more especially in their lan- 
guage, once provoked me to I- 11 him that "on that head 
the least said the better, as the Americans presented the 
extraordinary anomaly of a people without a language. 
That they had mistaken the English language for haggii^e 
(which Is called plunder In America! and had stolen it" 
Cultridge, Letters, Conversations and Recollections, p. 214. 
"Help yourself, stranger," added the landlord, "while 
I tote your plunder into the other room." 
1 In/in n n. Winter in the West, letter xxxlii. (BartUU.) 
2. The act of plundering ; robbery. 
1'lututer, both name and thing, was unknown in England 
till the beginning of the war ; and the war began not till 
September, anno 1042. 
11. nl in, Examen llUtoricum (1659) 1. '248, quoted In F. 
[Hall's .Mod. Mm:., p. 113. 
For my part I abhor all violence, plunder, rapine, and 
disorders insouldiers. 
Prynne, Treachery and Disloyalty, Iv. 29. 
The Blscaius were almost quite disheartned by reason 
of the frequent Inrodes and plunder* of the Saracens. 
North, tr. of Plutarch (ed. 1B76), II. 35. 
3. That which is taken from an enemy by force ; 
pillage; prey; spoil; booty. 
The prospect of plunder reconciled all disputes. Dutch 
and English, admirals and generals, were equally eager 
for action. Maeaulay, War of the Succession in Spain. 
4. Hence, that which is taken by theft, rob- 
bery, or fraud : as, the cashier escaped with his 
plunder. =BJR. 3. Sooty, Spoil, etc. See pillage. 
plunder (plun'der), r. '. [< MD. and D. plun- 
deren, plonderen = MLG. plundereii = Sw. plun- 
dra = Dan. plyndre, plunder, < G. plundern, 
steal household effects, pillage, plunder, prop, 
remove household effects, < plunder, household 
effects, trumpery, baggage: see plunder, n. 
The word api>ars to have been carried from 
Germany to the other countries during the 
Thirty \ ears' War, in which many foreign mer- 
cenaries were engaged, and much plundering 
was done. For the development of sense from 
' household effects,' ' clothing,' etc., to ' pillage,' 
' rob,' cf. rob, reare, as similarly developed from 
robe (AS. reaf), clothing.] 1. To take goods 
or valuables forcibly from; pillage; spoil; 
strip; rob. 
He (Kaleigh) hath fired and plundered Santo Thoma, a 
Colony the Spaniards had planted with so much blood. 
lli.irrll. Letters, I. L 4. 
It is not demonstrated that kings and aristocracies will 
plunder the people, unless it he true that all men will 
plunder their neighbours if they can. 
Macaulay, West. Reviewer's Def. of Mill. 
2. To take by pillage or open force: as, the 
enemy plundered all the goods they found. 
A treasure richer far 
Than what is plundered in the rage of war. iHyden. 
= Syn. 1. To despoil, sack, rifle, ravage. See pillage, n. 
plunderage (plun'der-aj), n. [< plunder + 
-age.'] In maritime law, the embezzlement of 
goods on board a ship. 
plunderer (pluu'diT-er), . One who plunders. 
It was a famous saying of William Rufus, . . . "Who- 
soever spares perjured men, robbers, plunderer*, and trai- 
tors, deprives all good men of their peace and quietness." 
Addinn, Freeholder, No. 31. 
plunderous (l>lun'der-us), a. [< plunder + 
-wis.] Plundering; pillaging. 
plunger 
plunge (plunj), r.: pret. and pp. plungeil, ppr. 
plunging. [< ME. plungeti, /ilmim/i n, plum/i n, 
< OP. plonger, plonchier, F. plonger = Picard 
plonker, < LL. *plitmbicare, freq., plunge: cf. 
Pr. plombar, plunge, = It. pivmbare, fall hea- 
vily like lead, plunge, throw, hurl (see also 
plump'*, .); < L. plumbum, lead: see plumb'*. 
The L. plumbarc means only ' solder with lead,' 
'make of lead.' For the LL. freq. 'plumbicare, 
cf. pluck*, prob. < LL. "pilicare, 'pilucure.] I. 
trim.*. 1. To cast or thrust suddenly into wa- 
ter or some other fluid, or into some penetra- 
ble substance; immerse; thrust: as, to plunye 
one's hand into the water; to pluntje a dagger 
into one's breast. 
What if the breath that kindled those grim fires, 
Awaked, should blow them into sevenfold rage, 
And pliiinj,' us in the flamea! MMon, I'. L., IL 172. 
2. Figuratively, to cast or throw into some 
thing, state, condition, or action: as, plunged 
in grief; to plunge a nation into war. 
Agrauayn. that was plonged In to the prune, smote on 
bothe sides hym a-boute, and began yeve so grete strokes 
that sore thel hym douted. Meriin (E. E. f. 8.), It. P.M. 
Without a prudent determination In matters before us, 
we shall be plunyeil into perpetual errors. Watt*. 
Yet he llsteu'd, plunged In thought 
Jf. Arnold, Sohrub and Kustum. 
3f. To entangle or embarrass: used chiefly in 
the past participle. 
For thou well know'st I have been Ktplung'd, so torn 
With her resolv'd rejection and neglect 
r."in. and I'l . Knight of Malta, I. 1. 
1'lini;}' d and gravelled with three lines of Seneca. 
Sir T. Browne, ReUglo Medici, I 21. 
II. intrans. 1. To dive, leap, or rush (into 
water or some fluid). 
Bid me go find some desp'ratc rock from whence 
Down I may pluwje Into the deepest Main. 
J. Keaumont, Psyche, 11. 158. 
Through the forest, like a wild beast, roared and plunged 
the Saco's falls. H'hitn,,-. Mary Uarvln. 
2. To fall or rush headlong into some thing, ac- 
tion, state, or condition : as, to plunge into debt 
or into a controversy. 
Bid me for honour plunge into a war 
Of thickest foes, and rush on certain death. 
Additon, Cato, I. 1. 
3. To throw the body forward and the hind legs 
up, as an unruly horse. 
But tlr angry Steed . . . 
Calls for the Combat, plunge*, leaps, and prannces. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartass Weeks, II., The Bandy-Crafts. 
4. To descend precipitously or vertically, as a 
cliff. 
While she sat on an Ivied stone, on the edge of the 
plunying wall, I stood there and made a speech. 
//. Jamet, Jr., Pass. Pilgrim, p. 23. 
5. To bet recklessly ; gamble for large stakes ; 
speculate. [Sporting slang.] 
Plunging was the order of the day, and lansquenet was 
the game at which most of this plunging was done. 
Fortnightly Jteo., N. 8., XXXIX. S19. 
plunge (plunj), . [(.plunge, p.] 1. A sudden 
dive, leap, or dip into something: as, a plunge 
in the sea. 2. An immersion in difficulty, em- 
barrassment, or distress; the condition of be- 
ing surrounded or overwhelmed; a strait; dif- 
ficulty. [Obsolete or obsolescent.] 
Do you observe the plunge* that this poor gallant Is put 
purchase the fashion ? 
uruon, Every Man out of his Humour, iv. 5. 
to, slgnior, to purchase the fashion ? 
B. Jon 
Then be thou In these plunge* 
A patron to thy mother In her pains. 
tlreene and Lodge, Looking Olass for Lond. and Eng. 
3. A sudden and violent pitching forward of 
the body, and pitching up of the nind legs, as 
by an unruly horse. At a plunge, at a pinch ; in * 
strait 
He [Collins] had a pressing and Immediate objection to 
remove. And as he had no great stock of argument, 
and but small forecast, any thing at a plunge would be 
received which came to his relief. 
Warburton, Divine Legation, vL { 8. 
Flow-and-plunge structure, in geol. 
plunge-bath (pluni'bath), n. A bath sufficiently 
large to admit of the complete immersion of the 
bather. 
plunge-battery (plunj'bat'er-i), w. See battery. 
plungeon (plun'jon), n. [< F. jilonijeon, a plun- 
geou, the diver, "also diving, < plonger, dive, 
plunge: see plunge.~\ A diving bird. Aim- 
worth. 
plunge-pole (plunj'pol), n. The hollow piling- 
rod of a piimping-eugine. [Kng.] 
plunger (plun'jer), . 1. Onewhoorthatwliicli 
plunges. 2. A cavalryman ; in the plural, cav- 
alry. [Milit. slang.] 
