plum
- adverb
- /plʌm/
- Informal
- She hit the nail plum on the head with her answer.
Examples
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The ball landed plum in the center of the target.
-
The statue stood plum in the middle of the square.
-
The book is plum in the middle of the shelf.
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She placed the vase plum on the table.
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The ball landed plum in the center of the target.
-
The statue stood plum in the middle of the square.
-
She placed the vase plum on the table.
Synonyms
Exactly in the middle or at the correct spot
Antonyms
In a way that does not say something clearly, often by a hint or through someone else
Idioms
To make ripe fruit or other things fall from a tree by moving its branches quickly
Compounds
- UK
A rich steamed dessert with dried fruit and spices, often served at Christmas in Britain
A wild plum tree from eastern and central North America with red fruit and yellow flesh
- Informal
A job many people want because it pays well, gives good benefits or brings respect
- Archaic
A steamed or boiled sweet pudding made with dried fruit like raisins and currants
- Specialized
A small tree with large leaves and purplish-red fruit often planted in gardens
- US
A shrub that grows on the northeast coast and makes white flowers and purple fruit you can eat
- South African
A small edible red fruit like a plum that grows on a South African bush
- US
A tropical American shrub or small tree with edible fruit like a plum used in jams and desserts
A small dark purple plum or the tree that grows it with a tart taste often used for jam
A wild plum tree that grows in the northeastern United States and makes dark purple fruit with yellow flesh
- US
A wild plum tree in eastern and central North America that makes red-orange fruit with yellow flesh
- Specialized
A low evergreen shrub that grows in cool northern places and has small white flowers and soft white seeds
- US
A wild plum tree from eastern and central North America that makes red-orange fruit with yellow flesh
- Indian
A small tropical bush that makes a dense hedge and has deep red sour fruit
- South African
A large evergreen shrub from South Africa with shiny leaves, thorny branches, and red fruit used as a hedge
- South African
A small red fruit from a South African shrub that tastes sweet when ripe
- Specialized
A shrub from the Pacific coast of the United States that makes small red fruit that is not very sweet
- Specialized
An evergreen South American tree or shrub that makes small plum-like fruit
- Specialized
Evergreen shrubs and small trees from East Asia with seeds that look like plums and leaves like yew trees
- Specialized
An evergreen shrub or small tree with large seeds covered by soft flesh, often grown in gardens
- US
A small wild bush on the US west coast that has small red fruit often too bland to eat
How Exact
Surface Forms
Etymology
The adverb plum meaning 'exactly' comes from the old word plumb, the same root as plumber and from the Latin word for 'lead'. People used a lead weight to find true up-and-down, so plumb came to mean 'straight' and 'exact', and plum can mean 'right there'.