plumber
/ˈplʌm.əɹ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.36 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
One who furnishes, fits, and repairs pipes and other apparatus for the conveyance of water, gas, or drainage.
Example Sentences
- "Mario and Luigi's profession is plumbers."
- "Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green party councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England after overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority."
- "It involved the break-in of the office of Mr. Lewis Fielding, Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist, by the White House “plumbers.”"
- "[…] began the month with an operation at St. Joseph Hospital in Aurora, Ill. His surgeon, by the way, was a "plumber” – urologist."
- "Within surgery, the "cleaner" specialties, such as cardiac and neurosurgery, outrank the plumbers (urologists) and proctologists."
- "There is nothing to work him into a fine feeling of agony and despair like an exam scheduled for the next day, or a paper to write, or a concert in which he is to sing. Wish him the top of the morning when he is looking forward to one of these events, and then hear the woeful story of how badly he is going to be plumbered."
Etymology
From Middle English plumber, from Old French plummier (French plombier); from Latin plumbārius, from plumbum (“lead or lead shot”). The verb sense “to botch” is perhaps from the negative stereotype of the occupation.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈplʌm.əɹ/
- British English: /ˈplʌm.ə/
Usage
- Dated
- Slang
- British usage
- Informal
- Derogatory
- American usage
- Transitive verb
- Intransitive verb