# plunge
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /plʌnd͡ʒ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ʌnd͡ʒ

### Etymology 1

From Middle English plungen, ploungen, Anglo-Norman plungier, from Old French plongier, (Modern French plonger), from unattested Late Latin frequentative *plumbicō (“to throw a leaded line”), from plumbum (“lead”). Compare plumb, plounce.

#### Verb

plunge (third-person singular simple present plunges, present participle plunging, simple past and past participle plunged)
* (transitive) To thrust into liquid, or into any penetrable substance; to immerse.
    to plunge the body into water
** 1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 53:"Most of them don't wash. Those who do usually plunge their head into some brook or rill, if there happens to be one about."
* (figuratively, transitive) To cast, stab or throw into some thing, state, condition or action.
    to plunge a dagger into the breast
    to plunge a nation into war
    the city was plunged into darkness
** 2019 May 19, Alex McLevy, “The final Game Of Thrones brings a pensive but simple meditation about stories (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 22 May 2019: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.
* (transitive, obsolete) To baptize by immersion.
* (intransitive) To dive, leap or rush (into water or some liquid); to submerge oneself.
    he plunged into the river
* (figuratively, intransitive) To fall or rush headlong into some thing, action, state or condition.
    to plunge into debt
    to plunge into controversy
    profits plunge 90%
** 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., →OCLC: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: […] .
** 2022 August 17, Chris Isidore, “Target profit plunges 90% as inflation-weary shoppers pull back”, in CNN‎: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.
* (intransitive) To pitch or throw oneself headlong or violently forward, as a horse does.
** 1648, J[oseph] Hall, chapter LXXXVI, in Select Thoughts: Or, Choice Helps for a Pious Spirit. […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Brooke, […], published 1654, →OCLC, pages 249–250:[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: […]
* (intransitive, slang) To bet heavily and recklessly; to risk large sums in gambling.
* (intransitive, obsolete) To entangle or embarrass (mostly used in past participle).
** 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:Plunged and gravelled with three lines of Seneca.
* (intransitive, obsolete) To overwhelm, overpower.

##### Derived terms

* plunge bath
* plunge bra
* plunge in
* plunge into
* plunge pool
* plunge waterfall
* polar bear plunge
* take the plunge

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Noun

plunge (plural plunges)
* The act of plunging or submerging.
* A dive, leap, rush, or pitch into (into water).
    to take the water with a plunge
    A plunge into the sea
* (dated) A swimming pool.
* (figuratively) The act of pitching or throwing oneself headlong or violently forward, like an unruly horse.
* (slang) Heavy and reckless betting in horse racing; hazardous speculation.
    Synonym: plunger
* (obsolete) An immersion in difficulty, embarrassment, or distress; the condition of being surrounded or overwhelmed; a strait; difficulty.

##### Derived terms

* bus plunge

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

Back-formation from plunger.

#### Verb

plunge (third-person singular simple present plunges, present participle plunging, simple past and past participle plunged)
* (transitive) To remove a blockage by suction.
    to plunge a toilet

### References

* “plunge”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
* “plunge”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
* “plunge n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

### Anagrams

* pungle