Definition of "plunge"

plunge¹

/plʌnd͡ʒ/

verb
third-person singular simple present plunges, present participle plunging, simple past and past participle plunged
1. (transitive) To thrust into liquid, or into any penetrable substance; to immerse.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To cast, stab or throw into some thing, state, condition or action.
  Quotations
  Jon isn’t lying when he tells her she will always be his queen, right before plunging a knife into her. He genuinely swore obedience, and sees himself as a traitor when he commits the deeds.
  2019 May 19, Alex McLevy, “The final Game Of Thrones brings a pensive but simple meditation about stories (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club‎
3. (transitive, obsolete) To baptize by immersion.
4. (intransitive) To dive, leap or rush (into water or some liquid); to submerge oneself.
5. (figuratively, intransitive) To fall or rush headlong into some thing, action, state or condition.
  Quotations
  The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet: […] .
  1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.
  Target reported profit plunged 90% in the second quarter, falling far short of expectations, as inflation-weary customers pulled back on spending on nonessential items.
  2022 August 17, Chris Isidore, “Target profit plunges 90% as inflation-weary shoppers pull back”, in CNN‎
6. (intransitive) To pitch or throw oneself headlong or violently forward, as a horse does.
  Quotations
  [N]ature affects a looſe kinde of liberty, vvhich it cannot indure to have reſtrained: neither fares it othervviſe vvith it, then vvith ſome vvilde colt; which at the firſt taking up, flings and plunges, and vvill ſtand on no ground; but after it hath been ſomvvhile diſciplin'd at the Poſt, is grovvn tractable, and quietly ſubmits either to the ſaddle, or the collar: […]
  1648, J[oseph] Hall, chapter LXXXVI, in Select Thoughts: Or, Choice Helps for a Pious Spirit. […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Brooke, […], published 1654, pages 249–250
7. (intransitive, slang) To bet heavily and recklessly; to risk large sums in gambling.
8. (intransitive, obsolete) To entangle or embarrass (mostly used in past participle).
  Quotations
  Plunged and gravelled with three lines of Seneca.
  1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […]
9. (intransitive, obsolete) To overwhelm, overpower.
noun
plural plunges
1. The act of plunging or submerging.
2. A dive, leap, rush, or pitch into (into water).
3. (dated) A swimming pool.
4. (figuratively) The act of pitching or throwing oneself headlong or violently forward, like an unruly horse.
5. (slang) Heavy and reckless betting in horse racing; hazardous speculation.
6. (obsolete) An immersion in difficulty, embarrassment, or distress; the condition of being surrounded or overwhelmed; a strait; difficulty.

plunge²

/plʌnd͡ʒ/

verb
third-person singular simple present plunges, present participle plunging, simple past and past participle plunged
1. (transitive) To remove a blockage by suction.

Definition of "plunge"

plunge1

verb

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

noun

plunge2

verb

plunge¹

plunge²