plum

an oval, fleshy, edible fruit: He stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum.

Not to be confused with:

plumb – exactly vertical: plumb in the center; determine the depth of; experience in extremes: plumb the depths of fear; provide with plumbing; work as a plumber

plume – a soft, fluffy feather: the plume of an egret; emissions from a stack, flue, or chimney: a plume of smoke

plum¹

(plŭm)

a. Any of several shrubs or small trees of the genus Prunus of the rose family, especially the cultivated species P. domestica and P. salicina, bearing smooth-skinned, fleshy, edible fruit with a single stone.

b. The fruit of any of these trees.

a. Any of several trees bearing plumlike fruit.

b. The fruit of such a tree.

3. A raisin, when added to a pudding or cake.

4. A sugarplum.

5. A dark purple to deep reddish purple.

6. An especially desirable position, assignment, or reward: an ambassadorship granted as a political plum.

[Middle English, from Old English plūme; akin to Old High German phrūma, pflūmo, Greek proumnon, and Latin prūnum, all ultimately from a common unknown source .]

plum²

(plŭm) Informal

adv.

Variant of plumb..

adj.

Variant of plumb..

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

plum

(plʌm)

1. (Plants) a small rosaceous tree, Prunus domestica, with white flowers and an edible oval fruit that is purple, yellow, or green and contains an oval stone. See also greengage, damson

2. (Plants) the fruit of this tree

3. (Cookery) a raisin, as used in a cake or pudding

4. (Colours)

a. a dark reddish-purple colour

b. (as adjective): a plum carpet.

5. informal

a. something of a superior or desirable kind, such as a financial bonus

b. (as modifier): a plum job.

[Old English plūme; related to Latin prunum, German Pflaume]

ˈplumˌlike adj

plum

(plʌm)

adj, adv

a variant spelling of plumb³, plumb⁴, plumb⁵, plumb⁶

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

plum¹

(plʌm)

n., adj. plum•mer, plum•mest. n.

1. the drupaceous fruit of any of several trees belonging to the genus Prunus, of the rose family, having an oblong stone.

2. the tree itself.

3. any of various other trees bearing a plumlike fruit.

4. the fruit itself.

5. a sugarplum.

6. a raisin, as in a pudding.

7. a deep bluish to reddish purple.

8. an excellent or desirable thing, as a rewarding job.

adj.

9. very desirable or rewarding; plummy.

[before 900; Middle English; Old English plūme (c. German Pflaume) « Greek proûmnon plum, proúmnē plum tree; compare prune¹]

plum²

(plʌm)

adj., adv.

plumb (defs. 2–6).

plum

drupe - A fleshy fruit with thin skin and a central stone (e.g. almonds, cherries, plums, olives), it comes from Latin drupa, "overripe olive," from Greek druppa, "olive."
plum, prune - Plum and prune are ultimately the same word, coming from Greek proumnon.
plum job - Relates to the 1600s British term "plum" for 1,000 pounds, meaning a serious amount of money.
plum pudding - So named because it was originally made with plums—the word was retained to denote "raisin," which became the main ingredient.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	plum - any of several trees producing edible oval fruit having a smooth skin and a single hard stone plum tree plum - any of numerous varieties of small to medium-sized round or oval fruit having a smooth skin and a single pit genus Prunus, Prunus - a genus of shrubs and trees of the family Rosaceae that is widely distributed in temperate regions wild plum, wild plum tree - an uncultivated plum tree or shrub common plum, Prunus domestica - any of various widely distributed plums grown in the cooler temperate areas bullace, Prunus insititia - small wild or half-domesticated Eurasian plum bearing small ovoid fruit in clusters big-tree plum, Prunus mexicana - small tree of southwestern United States having purplish-red fruit sometimes cultivated as an ornamental for its large leaves Canada plum, Prunus nigra - small tree native to northeastern North America having oblong orange-red fruit cherry plum, myrobalan, myrobalan plum, Prunus cerasifera - small Asiatic tree bearing edible red or yellow fruit Japanese plum, Prunus salicina - small tree of China and Japan bearing large yellow to red plums usually somewhat inferior to European plums in flavor Pacific plum, Prunus subcordata, Sierra plum - shrub of the Pacific coast of the United States bearing small red insipid fruit fruit tree - tree bearing edible fruit
	2.	plum - any of numerous varieties of small to medium-sized round or oval fruit having a smooth skin and a single pit edible fruit - edible reproductive body of a seed plant especially one having sweet flesh damson, damson plum - dark purple plum of the damson tree greengage, greengage plum - sweet green or greenish-yellow variety of plum beach plum - small dark purple fruit used especially in jams and pies sloe - small sour dark purple fruit of especially the Allegheny plum bush Victoria plum - a large red plum served as dessert plum, plum tree - any of several trees producing edible oval fruit having a smooth skin and a single hard stone drupe, stone fruit - fleshy indehiscent fruit with a single seed: e.g. almond; peach; plum; cherry; elderberry; olive; jujube
	3.	plum - a highly desirable position or assignment; "a political plum" berth, billet, post, situation, position, office, place, spot - a job in an organization; "he occupied a post in the treasury"
Adv.	1.	plum - exactly; "fell plumb in the middle of the puddle" plumb colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech
	2.	plum - completely; used as intensifiers; "clean forgot the appointment"; "I'm plumb (or plum) tuckered out" clean, plumb jargon, lingo, patois, argot, vernacular, slang, cant - a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves); "they don't speak our lingo"

plum

adjective choice, prize, first-class Laura landed a plum job with a smart art gallery.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

plum

noun

1. Something given in return for a service or accomplishment:

accolade, award, guerdon, honorarium, premium, prize, reward.

Idiom: token of appreciation.

2. A person or thing worth catching:

catch, prize.

Slang: brass ring.

Translations

بَرْقُوقثَمَر أو شَجَر البَرقوق

švestkaslíva

blomme

Pflaume Pflaumenbaum ZwetschgeZwetschgenbaum

δαμάσκηνο δαμασκηνί δαμασκηνιά

pruno

ciruela ciruelo

ploomploomipuu

luumuluumupuu

prune pruniercarissa

šljiva

szilva

plóma

prugna susina prugno susino

プラムセイヨウスモモ

서양자두자두자두나무

prunumprunus

pudingas su razinomispyragas su razinomisslyva

plūme

śliwkaśliwa

prună

slivka

slivačešplja

plommonplommonträd

ลูกพลัม

erik

chọn lọcquả mận

李子梅子

plum

[plʌm]

A. N

1. (= fruit) → ciruela f (also plum tree) → ciruelo m
to speak with or have a plum in one's mouth (Brit) → hablar muy engoladamente

2. (= colour) → color m ciruela or (LAm) guinda

3. (fig) it's a real plum (of a) job → es un trabajo fantástico, es un chollo (Sp)

B. CPD plum pudding N → pudín m or budín m de pasas
plum tomato N → tomate m pera

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

plum

[ˈplʌm]

n (= fruit) → prune f

modif [sauce] → aux prunes; [brandy, jam] → de prunes
plum jam → de la confiture de prunes plum tomato, plum tree

adj (= excellent) [role, contract] → en or
plum job → travail m en or

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

plum

(= fruit, tree) → Pflaume f; (= Victoria plum, dark blue) → Zwetsch(g)e f; to speak with a plum in one’s mouth (Brit fig inf) → sprechen, als hätte man eine heiße Kartoffel im Mund

(= colour) → Pflaumenblau nt

(fig inf: = good job) a real plum (of a job) → ein Bombenjob m (inf)

adj attr

(inf) job, position → Bomben- (inf), → Mords- (inf)

(colour) → pflaumenblau

plum

plum pudding

n → Plumpudding m

plum tomato

n → Eiertomate f, → italienische Tomate

plum tree

n → Pflaumenbaum m; (= Victoria plum tree) → Zwetsch(g)enbaum m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

plum

[plʌm]

1. n (fruit) → prugna, susina (also plum tree) → prugno, susino
a real plum (of a job) (fig) (fam) → un lavoro favoloso

2. adj

a. (tart, tree) → di prugne; (plum-coloured) → (color) prugna inv

b. (fig) (fam) a plum role → un ruolo ambito

plum

(plam) noun

a type of fruit, usually dark-red or purple, with a stone in the centre.

plum cake/pudding

(a) cake or pudding containing raisins, currants etc.

plum

→ بَرْقُوق švestka blomme Pflaume δαμάσκηνο ciruela luumu prune šljiva susina プラム 서양자두 pruim plomme śliwka ameixa слива plommon ลูกพลัม erik quả mận 李子

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"Just as she spoke, a ripe plum dropped bounce on the grass before us, as if answering her question.

View in context

Having gone round the corner of the hothouse to the ornamental garden, he saw that the carved garden fence was broken and branches of the plum trees had been torn off with the fruit.

View in context

At eleven o'clock the locomotive's whistle announced that they were approaching Plum Creek station.

View in context

And I'll make her enough blue plum preserve to stock her jam closet for a year.

View in context

The emphasis was helped by the speaker's hair, which bristled on the skirts of his bald head, a plantation of firs to keep the wind from its shining surface, all covered with knobs, like the crust of a plum pie, as if the head had scarcely warehouse-room for the hard facts stored inside.

View in context

The prince had spread out near him his purchases, carved boxes, and knick-knacks, paper-knives of all sorts, of which he bought a heap at every watering-place, and bestowed them upon everyone, including Lieschen, the servant girl, and the landlord, with whom he jested in his comically bad German, assuring him that it was not the water had cured Kitty, but his splendid cookery, especially his plum soup.

View in context

"Oh, the French have the reputation of being the best cooks in the world," rejoined the Story Girl, "but I know they can't beat your jam turnovers and plum puffs, Felicity.

View in context

The child put out her hand and broke off a branch of wild plum that brushed against the side of the buggy.

View in context

Moreover, I had a secret conviction that the woman I was now in search of would prefer one who had had some experience at being a man, who would bring her not the green plums of his love, but the cunningly ripened nectarines, a man to whom love was something of an art as well as an inspiration.

View in context

He told us all about the Heidelberg road, and which were the best places to avoid and which the best ones to tarry at; he charged me less than cost for the things I broke in the night; he put up a fine luncheon for us and added to it a quantity of great light-green plums, the pleasantest fruit in Germany; he was so anxious to do us honor that he would not allow us to walk out of Heilbronn, but called up Go"tz von Berlichingen's horse and cab and made us ride.

View in context

In a country of plantation, first look about, what kind of victual the country yields of itself to hand; as chestnuts, walnuts, pineapples, olives, dates, plums, cherries, wild honey, and the like; and make use of them.

View in context

On the table was spread a snow-white tablecloth; upon it was a splendid porcelain service, and the roast goose was steaming famously with its stuffing of apple and dried plums. And what was still more capital to behold was, the goose hopped down from the dish, reeled about on the floor with knife and fork in its breast, till it came up to the poor little girl; when--the match went out and nothing but the thick, cold, damp wall was left behind.

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