English Explanatory Dictionary

plunk

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A brief, dull sound, such as the sound of a string of a stringed instrument being plucked, or the thud of something landing on a surface.
  2. A (heavy) blow or hit.
  3. A dollar.
  4. A large sum of money.
adv
  1. With a brief, dull sound, such as the thud of something landing on a surface.
  2. Directly, exactly, precisely.
intj
  1. Often reduplicated: used to represent a brief, dull sound, such as the sound of a string of a stringed instrument being plucked, or the thud of something landing on a surface.
verb
  1. To move (something) with a sudden push.
  2. Chiefly followed by down or out: to pay (money); to plank.
  3. To pluck and quickly release (a string of a stringed instrument); also, to play (a stringed instrument) by plucking strings; to play (a piano, etc.) by striking keys; or, to play (a note or tune) on such an instrument.
  4. Often followed by down: to drop, set, or throw (something, or oneself) abruptly and/or heavily into or on to a surface or some other thing, making a dull sound; to plump.
  5. To hit or injure (someone or something); also, to shoot (someone or something) with a firearm.
  6. To pitch a ball in a way that it hits (a player).
  7. To make a brief, dull sound, such as the thud of something landing on a surface; to thud.
  8. Followed by for: to choose, to opt; to plump.
  9. To pluck and quickly release a string of a musical instrument; also, to play a stringed instrument by plucking strings; to play a piano, etc., by striking keys; or, to play a note or tune on such an instrument.
  10. Often followed by down: to drop, land, or set abruptly and/or heavily into or on to a surface or some other thing with a dull sound; to plump down.
  11. Of a raven: to croak.
verb
  1. To be absent from (school) without permission; to be a truant.
  2. To play truant.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/plʌŋk/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-plunk.wav En-au-plunk.ogg

Word forms

plunk plunks plunking plunked

Etymology

Onomatopoeic; the noun is attested earlier than the verb. Noun etymology 1, noun sense 3 (“dollar; large sum of money”) may refer to the sound of a coin hitting a surface. As regards verb etymology 1, verb sense 1.4 (“(transitive) to drop, set, or throw (something, or oneself) abruptly and/or heavily”) and etymology 1, verb sense 2.4 (“(intransitive) to drop, land, or set abruptly and/or heavily”), compare French plonquer (Picardy), a variant of plonger (“to plunge”).

Synonyms

plonk plump accurately correctly dead-nuts definitely directly even exact exactly fully incisively just jump on target on the button on the dot on the mark on the money on the nose perfectly plunk precisely punctually right sharp slap slap bang squarely twang flump thud

Derived words

kerplunk plunkety-plunk plunky plunker plunking
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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