Plumbery
(Plumb"er*y) n. [F. plomberie.]
1. The business of a plumber. [Obs.]
2. A place where plumbing is carried on; lead works.
Plumbic
(Plum"bic) a. [From Plumbum.] (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, resembling, or containing, lead; —
used specifically to designate those compounds in which it has a higher valence as contrasted with
plumbous compounds; as, plumbic oxide.
Plumbiferous
(Plum*bif"er*ous) a. [Plumbum + -ferous.] Producing or containing lead. Kirwan.
Plumbing
(Plumb"ing) n.
1. The art of casting and working in lead, and applying it to building purposes; especially, the business
of furnishing, fitting, and repairing pipes for conducting water, sewage, etc. Gwilt.
2. The lead or iron pipes, and other apparatus, used in conveying water, sewage, etc., in a building.
Plumbism
(Plum"bism) n. [From Plumbum.] (Med.) A diseased condition, produced by the absorption
of lead, common among workers in this metal or in its compounds, as among painters, typesetters, etc.
It is characterized by various symptoms, as lead colic, lead line, and wrist drop. See under Colic, Lead,
and Wrist.
Plumbous
(Plum"bous) a. [From Plumbum.] (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or containing, lead; — used
specifically to designate those compounds in which it has a lower valence as contrasted with plumbic
compounds.
Plumbum
(||Plum"bum) n. [L.] (Chem.) The technical name of lead. See Lead.
Plume
(Plume) n. [F., fr. L. pluma. Cf. Fly, v.]
1. A feather; esp., a soft, downy feather, or a long, conspicuous, or handsome feather.
Wings . . . of many a colored plume.
Milton. 2. (Zoöl.) An ornamental tuft of feathers.
3. A feather, or group of feathers, worn as an ornament; a waving ornament of hair, or other material
resembling feathers.
His high plume, that nodded o'er his head.
Dryden. 4. A token of honor or prowess; that on which one prides himself; a prize or reward. "Ambitious to win
from me some plume." Milton.
5. (Bot.) A large and flexible panicle of inflorescence resembling a feather, such as is seen in certain
large ornamental grasses.
Plume bird (Zoöl.), any bird that yields ornamental plumes, especially the species of Epimarchus from
New Guinea, and some of the herons and egrets, as the white heron of Florida — Plume grass. (Bot)
(a) A kind of grass (Erianthus saccharoides) with the spikelets arranged in great silky plumes, growing in
swamps in the Southern United States. (b) The still finer E. Ravennæ from the Mediterranean region.
The name is sometimes extended to the whole genus. — Plume moth (Zoöl.), any one of numerous
small, slender moths, belonging to the family Pterophoridæ. Most of them have the wings deeply divided
into two or more plumelike lobes. Some species are injurious to the grapevine. — Plume nutmeg
