Meaning of Plume | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A feather of a bird, especially a large or showy one used as a decoration.
   archaic, literary, poetic
2. A surname
3. A cluster of feathers worn as an ornament, especially on a helmet; a hackle.
   archaic, literary, poetic
4. A token of honour or prowess; that on which one prides oneself; a prize or reward.
   figuratively
5. The vane (“flattened, web-like part”) of a feather, especially when on a quill pen or the fletching of an arrow.
6. Ellipsis of plume moth (“a small, slender moth of the family Pterophoridae”).
   abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
7. Things resembling a feather.
8. A cloud formed by a dispersed substance fanning out or spreading.
9. An upward spray of mist or water.
10. An arc of glowing material (chiefly gases) erupting from the surface of a star.
11. A large and flexible panicle of an inflorescence resembling a feather, such as is seen in certain large ornamental grasses.
12. Ellipsis of mantle plume (“an upwelling of abnormally hot molten material from the Earth's mantle which spreads sideways when it reaches the lithosphere”).
    abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
13. A body part resembling a feather.
14. The furry tail of certain dog breeds (such as the Samoyed) that curls over their backs or stands erect.
15. More fully gill plume: a feathery gill of some crustaceans and molluscs.

Equivalents

Examples

“Near-synonym: aigrette”

“Under a Coronet his flowing haire / In curles on either cheek plaid, wings he wore / Of many a colourd plume ſprinkl'd with Gold, / His habit fit for ſpeed ſuccinct, and held / Before his decent ſteps a Silver wand.”

“The firſt thing that ſtruck Manfred’s eyes was a groupe of his ſervants endeavouring to raiſe ſomething that appeared to him a mountain of ſable plumes. […] [W]hat a ſight for a father’s eyes!—he beheld his child daſhed to pieces, and almoſt buried under an enormous helmet, an hundred times more large than any caſque ever made for human being, and ſhaded with a proportionable quantity of black feathers.”

“[T]he most valuable cargo carried by the Titanic wasn't diamonds or gold but 12 cases of ostrich plumes valued at $2.3 million in today's money.”

“Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!”

“The fearful infant turn'd his head away, / And on his nurſe's neck reclining lay, / His unknown father ſhunning with affright, / And looking back on ſo uncouth a ſight; / Daunted to ſee a face with ſteel o'er-ſpread, / And his high plume that nodded o'er his head.”

“But well thou comſt / Before thy fellows, ambitious to win / From me ſom Plume, that thy ſucceſs may ſhow / Deſtruction to the reſt: [...]”

“Tidal gravitational effects cause plumes of sodium silicate to erupt from Elaaden's core, depositing unusually pure silicon sand across the surface—invaluable for manufacturing high-performance computer hardware.”

“After the explosion, a plume of smoke could be seen in the sky for miles around.”

“The pollutant creates a contaminant plume within an aquifer.”

“Passengers on the earliest railway services would not even have enjoyed the luxury of a platform, instead having to step up onto the waiting open top wagons, where they would experience a journey that left many choking on the plumes of smoke exhaled by the leading locomotive.”

CEFR level