Middle English Dictionary Entry
plumben v.
Entry Info
| Forms | plumben v. Also plumbe, plum, plom; p.ppl. plom(m)ed. |
| Etymology | From plum n.; also cp. L plumbāre. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) To weight (a fishing line, a float); (b) ppl. plommed, ?soldered with lead; (c) to sink like lead, plunge downward; ?also, plunge upward; (d) to immerse (sth.) in a liquid.
Associated quotations
a
- c1450 Treat.Fish.(Yale 171)155/16 : Your lynys must be plomed with leyd.
- c1450 Treat.Fish.(Yale 171)156/3 : For þe floote, plumbe hym so hevy þat þe lest ploke of any fysche may pluke hym doune yn-to þe watur.
b
- (?a1500) Paston2.602 : A standing cuppe with a couer therto plommed.
c
- a1425 Wycl.Serm.(Bod 788)2.186 : Þer hertis ben so hevy þat þei plumben doun to helle.
- a1500(?a1390) Mirk Fest.(GoughETop 4)143 : Þys tre, by Godys ordenance, plumbet vp and swam on þe watyr.
d
- c1450 Hrl.Cook.Bk.(2) (Hrl 4016)76 : Take wodekokkes, teles, grete briddes, and plom hem in a boiling potte.
- c1475(1392) *MS Wel.564 (Wel 564)114b/a : R[ecipe] succi, plantaginis, Coriandre, portulacis..late walle hem togidere a litil on þe fier and plum þerinne a clooþ and leye it hoot on þe wounde.