[syn: steep, immerse, engulf, plunge, engross, absorb, soak up]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Plunge \Plunge\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plunged; p. pr. & vb. n.
Plunging.] [OE. ploungen, OF. plongier, F. plonger, fr.
(assumed) LL. plumbicare, fr. L. plumbum lead. See Plumb.]
1. To thrust into water, or into any substance that is
penetrable; to immerse; to cause to penetrate or enter
quickly and forcibly; to thrust; as, to plunge the body
into water; to plunge a dagger into the breast. Also used
figuratively; as, to plunge a nation into war. "To plunge
the boy in pleasing sleep." --Dryden.
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Bound and plunged him into a cell. --Tennyson.
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We shall be plunged into perpetual errors. --I.
Watts.
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2. To baptize by immersion.
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3. To entangle; to embarrass; to overcome. [Obs.]
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Plunged and graveled with three lines of Seneca.
--Sir T.
Browne.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Plunge \Plunge\, n.
1. The act of thrusting into or submerging; a dive, leap,
rush, or pitch into, or as into, water; as, to take the
water with a plunge.
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2. Hence, a desperate hazard or act; a state of being
submerged or overwhelmed with difficulties. [R.]
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She was brought to that plunge, to conceal her
husband's murder or accuse her son. --Sir P.
Sidney.
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And with thou not reach out a friendly arm,
To raise me from amidst this plunge of sorrows?
--Addison.
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3. The act of pitching or throwing one's self headlong or
violently forward, like an unruly horse.
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4. Heavy and reckless betting in horse racing; hazardous
speculation. [Cant]
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Plunge bath, an immersion by plunging; also, a large bath
in which the bather can wholly immerse himself.
Plunge battery, or plunging battery (Elec.), a voltaic
battery so arranged that the plates can be plunged into,
or withdrawn from, the exciting liquid at pleasure.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Plunge \Plunge\, v. i.
1. To thrust or cast one's self into water or other fluid; to
submerge one's self; to dive, or to rush in; as, he
plunged into the river. Also used figuratively; as, to
plunge into debt.
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Forced to plunge naked in the raging sea. --Dryden.
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To plunge into guilt of a murther. --Tillotson.
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2. To pitch or throw one's self headlong or violently
forward, as a horse does.
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Some wild colt, which . . . flings and plunges.
--Bp. Hall.
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3. To bet heavily and with seeming recklessness on a race, or
other contest; in an extended sense, to risk large sums in
hazardous speculations. [Cant]
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Plunging fire (Gun.), firing directed upon an enemy from an
elevated position.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
plunge
n 1: a brief swim in water [syn: dip, plunge]
2: a steep and rapid fall
v 1: thrust or throw into; "Immerse yourself in hot water" [syn:
immerse, plunge]
2: drop steeply; "the stock market plunged" [syn: dive,
plunge, plunk]
3: dash violently or with great speed or impetuosity; "She
plunged at it eagerly"
4: begin with vigor; "He launched into a long diatribe"; "She
plunged into a dangerous adventure" [syn: plunge, launch]
5: cause to be immersed; "The professor plunged his students
into the study of the Italian text" [syn: plunge,
immerse]
6: fall abruptly; "It plunged to the bottom of the well" [syn:
plunge, dump]
7: immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or
saturate; "dip the garment into the cleaning solution"; "dip
the brush into the paint" [syn: dunk, dip, souse,
plunge, douse]
8: devote (oneself) fully to; "He immersed himself into his
studies" [syn: steep, immerse, engulf, plunge,
engross, absorb, soak up]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
379 Moby Thesaurus words for "plunge":
abate, ablate, advance, agiotage, ante, ante up, arbitrage, ascend,
back, back up, bate, be caught short, be eaten away, be short,
beat down, belong, bet, bet on, blunder, boil, break, bucket,
bucketshop, budge, bundle, burst, burst of speed, bustle, buy in,
buy into, buying in, calculated risk, call, canter, careen, career,
cascade, catabasis, cataract, chance, change, change place, charge,
chase, cheapen, cheapening, circle, climb, collapse, come down,
consume, consume away, corrode, cover, crash, cropper, crowd,
crumble, culbute, cut, cut prices, dash, dash off, dash on,
dead run, deceleration, declension, decline, decline and fall,
decrease, decrescendo, deflate, deflation, deliquesce,
deposit margin, depreciate, depreciation, descend, descent,
devaluate, devaluation, die away, dig, diminish, diminuendo, dip,
dip down, dive, dive into, dogtrot, double-time, down, downtrend,
downturn, drive, drop, drop down, drop off, dwindle, dwindling,
ebb, engulf, equity capital, erode, fade, fall, fall away,
fall down, fall headlong, fall in price, fall off, falter,
festinate, financier, flank speed, flat-out speed, flier, fling,
flop, flounce, flounder, flow, flutter, forced draft,
forced landing, fortune, full gallop, gallop, gamble, get going,
get moving, get over, give way, go, go around, go down,
go downhill, go long, go off half-cocked, go round, go sideways,
gravitate, gyrate, hand gallop, hasten, hazard, head, header,
headlong rush, heave, heavy right foot, high lope, hobbyhorse,
hold on, hurry, hurry on, hurry through, hurry up, hurry-scurry,
hustle, immerse, immersion, incline, invest, invest in, investment,
jew down, jog trot, keel over, labor, languish, lapse, lay,
lay a wager, lay down, lay out money, lead, lean, leap, lessen,
let up, liquidation, lope, lose altitude, lose no time, lower,
lowering, luck, lunge, lurch, make a bet, make a killing,
make a scoop, make an investment, make haste, make heavy weather,
margin up, mark down, markdown, maximum speed, meet a bet,
melt away, miss the market, mount, move, move over, move quickly,
natatorium, nose dive, nose-dive, nosedive, open throttle, operate,
overstay the market, overwhelm, parachute, pare, parlay, pass,
pitch, pitch and plunge, pitch and toss, place, play, play against,
play the market, plop, plow back into, plummet, plummeting, plump,
plunge bath, plunge headlong, plunge into, plunk, point, pool,
post, pounce, pounce on, pounce upon, pound, pour down, pratfall,
precipitate, press on, price cut, price fall, price reduction,
prime investment, profit taking, progress, propel, punt, push,
push on, put, pyramid, race, rain, ram, rear, reduce, reduction,
reel, regress, reinvest, remission, retreat, retrogress, rise,
risk, rock, roll, rotate, round trade, run, run low, rush,
rush into, rush through, sag, scalp, scalping, scamper, scend,
scoop the market, scramble, scud, scurry, scuttle, see, seethe,
settle, shave, shift, shove, shrink, sink, sink money in, skid,
skin-dive, sky-dive, slash, slowdown, slump, soar, sound,
speculate, speculation, spill, spin, spot sale, sprawl, sprint,
spurt, stab, stag, stag the market, stagger, stake, stand pat,
stick, stir, stockjobbery, stockjobbing, stoop, stream, struggle,
stumble, submerge, submersion, subside, subsidence, sway,
swimming bath, swimming hole, swimming pool, swing, swoop,
swoop down, tail off, take a flier, take a header, tear, tend,
tend to go, thrash about, thrust, topple, toss, toss and tumble,
toss and turn, totter, trade on margin, travel, trend downward,
trim, trip, trot, tumble, turn, uncertainty, venture,
venture capital, volutation, wading pool, wager, wallop, wallow,
wane, waste, waste away, wear, wear away, welter, whirl,
wide-open speed, yaw