Meaning

(archaic, literary and poetic) A feather of a bird, especially a large or showy one used as a decoration..

Definitions by Sense

1. (archaic, literary and poetic) A feather of a bird, especially a large or showy one used as a decoration.
2. (archaic, literary and poetic) A cluster of feathers worn as an ornament, especially on a helmet; a hackle.
3. (figurative) A token of honour or prowess; that on which one prides oneself; a prize or reward.
4. The vane (“flattened, web-like part”) of a feather, especially when on a quill pen or the fletching of an arrow.
5. Ellipsis of plume moth (“a small, slender moth of the family Pterophoridae”).
6. Things resembling a feather.
7. (transitive, also figurative) To adorn, cover, or furnish with feathers or plumes, or as if with feathers or plumes.
8. (transitive, reflexive) Chiefly of a bird: to arrange and preen the feathers of, specifically in preparation for flight; hence (figurative), to prepare for (something).

Example Sentences

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.

Word Forms

• plumes
• pluming
• plumed
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• plume
• plumest
• plumedst
• plumeth
• -

Synonyms for plume

Antonyms for plume

Related Words

When Should You Use Plume?

Use plume when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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