plumb
/plʌm/noun, adjective, adverb, verb
plumb is spelled P-L-U-M-B: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,974th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “plum vs plumb” about 210 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, plumb means “A little mass of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc., to indicate a vertical direction” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of plumb is plumbs.
How many letters and syllables are in plumb?
| Letters | 5: P-L-U-M-B |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,974th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is plumb?
Plumb appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,974th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce plumb?
- /plʌm/
- /plʊm/
Plumb has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-plum.ogg, En-au-plumb.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with plumb
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: plum (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: plum.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of plumb
- plumbs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- more plumb comparative
- most plumb superlative
- plumbing participle, present
- plumbed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does plumb mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A little mass of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc., to indicate a vertical direction.
- 2
A weight on the end of a long line, used by sailors to determine the depth of water.
- 3
The perpendicular direction or position.
adjective
- 1
Truly vertical, as indicated by a plumb line.
- 2
Describing an LBW where the batsman is hit on the pads directly in front of their wicket and should be given out.
adverb
- 1
In a vertical direction; perpendicularly.
- 2
informalSquarely, directly; deeply, completely.
It hit him plumb in the middle of his face.
verb
- 1
To determine the depth, generally of a liquid; to sound.
- 2
To attach to a water supply and drain.
The kitchen sink is now plumbed in / up.
- 3
To think about or explore in depth, to get to the bottom of.
to plumb the depths of
- 4
To use a plumb bob as a measuring or aligning tool.
- 5
To accurately align vertically or horizontally.
- 6
datedTo seal something with lead.
- 7
To work as a plumber.
- 8
rareTo fall or sink like a plummet.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Plumb in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does plumb come from?
From Middle English plumbe, plumme, from Old French *plombe, from Latin plumba, plural of plumbum.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).