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View synonyms for plumb line

plumb line

noun

  1. a cord with a lead bob attached to one end, used to determine perpendicularity, the depth of water, etc. Compare plumb ( def 1 ).


plumb line

noun

  1. a string with a metal weight at one end that, when suspended, points directly towards the earth's centre of gravity and so is used to determine verticality, the depth of water, etc
  2. another name for plumb rule
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


plumb line

/ plŭm /

  1. A line regarded as directed exactly toward the Earth's center of gravity.


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Word History and Origins

Origin of plumb line1

First recorded in 1530–40
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Example Sentences

On either side of this isolated bar of sandstone a plumb-line might have been dropped straight to the level of the river.

Supports of dressed stone truly fixed with the plumb line are perfectly stable of themselves.

Dæd´alus is also mentioned as the inventor of the axe, plumb-line and augur.

Titiens then in a formal manner laid the first brick, using the plumb-line to ascertain that the work had been properly done.

He found a magnetic ridge line running approximately parallel to the line of no deflection of the plumb line.

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