See Also: Plum(medicine)
plum(encyclopedia)
plum(dictionary)
plum(2)(dictionary)
plum(1)(dictionary)
coco-plum(dictionary)
Plum Sauce(recipes)
plum tomato(dictionary)
plum pudding(dictionary)
plum 2, adjective(dictionary)

plum(2) (iou)



plum noun & adjective1.
[Old English plume corresp. to Middle Low German plume, Middle High German pflume (German Pflaume; in Old High German pflumo plum tree), Old Norse ploma (perh. from Old English), with by-forms Middle & mod. Low German, Middle Dutch prume (Dutch pruim), Old High German pfruma, from medieval Latin pruna: see PRUNE noun.]
A. noun.
The edible roundish fleshy fruit of the tree Prunus domestica (see sense 2 below), usu. purple, red, or yellow when ripe, with a sweet pulp and a flattish pointed stone. OE.
The tree bearing this fruit, Prunus domestica, of the rose family, allied to the blackthorn. Also, the wood of this tree. OE.
Any of various trees allied to the plum or resembling it, esp. in their fruit; the fruit of such a tree. E17.
beach plum, cherry-plum, Chickasaw plum, myrobalan plum, etc.
a. A dried grape or raisin as used in puddings, cakes, etc. Now rare exc. in certain combs. below. M17.
b. = sugar-plum s.v. SUGAR noun & adjective. rare. L17.
c. A stone or mass of rock embedded in a matrix, as in a conglomerate, concrete, etc. rare. E19.
d. fig. A desirable thing, a coveted prize; one of the best things in a book, piece of music, etc.; the pick of a collection of things, esp. a choice job or appointment. E19.
Academy A reviewer who picks all the 'plums' out of a book.
a. The sum of 100,000. slang. Now rare or obsolete. L17.
b. A person who has 100,000. slang. Only in 18.
A deep reddish-purple colour. L19.
Comb.: plum-broth a thick soup of beef, prunes, raisins, currants, white bread, spices, wine, sugar, and other ingredients, formerly traditionally served at Christmas; plum cake a cake containing raisins, currants, and often orange peel and other preserved fruits; plum-colour = sense A.6 above; plum-coloured adjective = sense B.1 below; plum-duff a rich boiled suet pudding with raisins, currants, spices, and other ingredients; plum-fir a coniferous tree of Chile, Podocarpus andinus, so called from the soft flesh surrounding the seed; plum-in-the-mouth adjective (colloq.) = PLUMMY adjective 2b; plum-pie (a) a pie containing raisins and currants; esp. a mince pie; (b) a pie containing plums or prunes; plum-pockets a fungal disease of plums in which the fruit grows hollow, without a stone; plum-porridge (obsolete exc. Hist.) porridge made with prunes, raisins, currants, etc., formerly traditionally served at Christmas; plum-pottage a thick pottage made with prunes, raisins, currants, broth, bread, etc.; = plum-broth above; plum pox an aphid-borne virus disease of plum trees characterized by yellow blotches on the leaves and pockets of dead tissue in the fruit; also called sharka; plum pudding (a) a suet pudding with raisins; spec. a rich boiled pudding made with flour, breadcrumbs, raisins, currants, spices, etc., sometimes flavoured with brandy or other spirit and traditionally served at Christmas; plum-pudding dog, = DALMATIAN noun 2; plum-pudding mahogany, mahogany with a mottled finish; plum-pudding stone, = pudding-stone s.v. PUDDING noun; plum-pudding voyage (arch. colloq.), a short voyage for which a supply of fresh provisions is carried; (b) a pudding of fresh plums in a crust; (c) colloq. part of the muscular flesh of a whale; (d) Military slang a type of trench mortar bomb; plum-puddinger arch. colloq. a whaling ship employed in short voyages (cf. plum-pudding voyage above); a member of the crew of such a ship; plum tomato a plum-shaped tomato; plum tree = sense A.2 above; shake the plum tree (US), obtain the rewards of political office.
b. attrib. or as adjective.
Of a deep reddish-purple colour. E20.
V. Sackville-West Buttoned into her plum velvet bodice.
Choice, valuable, coveted. M20.
P. Monette Lindsay, who'd just landed a plum job at Paramount.
plumlike adjective (esp. of a fruit) resembling a plum M19.