/plʌŋk/
OriginOnomatopoeic; the noun is attested earlier than the verb. Noun etymology 1 sense 3 (“dollar; large sum of money”) may refer to the sound of a coin hitting a surface.
As regards verb etymology 1 sense 1.4 (“(transitive) to drop, set, or throw (something, or oneself) abruptly and/or heavily”) and etymology 1 sense 2.4 (“(intransitive) to drop, land, or set abruptly and/or heavily”), compare French plonquer (Picardy), a variant of plonger (“to plunge”).
- A brief, dull sound, such as the sound of a string of a stringed instrument being plucked, or the thud of something landing on a surface.
“They listened and could hear the steady plunk, plunk of an axe somewhere far above them.”
- informalA (heavy) blow or hit.
- US, archaic, obsolete, slangA dollar.
“Den I gives him a five-plunk piece, and he gins me the shange.”
“Dere's a loidy here […] dat's got a necklace of jools what's wort' a hundred t'ousand plunks. Honest, boss. A hundred t'ousand plunks.” — A Gentleman of Leisure
- obsolete, rare, slangA large sum of money.
- informal, not-comparableWith a brief, dull sound, such as the thud of something landing on a surface.
- broadly, informal, not-comparableDirectly, exactly, precisely.
“"Bang!" went a gun behind me. I heard the whistle of shot. Something stung me sharply on the cheek, and I fell forward on my face, giving myself up for lost. […] "Oh, ye will never dee o' a chairge o'” — "Oh, you will never die of a charge of good soft garden peas!" […] / "Maybe not, […] They are all very well in broth, but if you got them plunk on the jaw, with a strong charge of powder behind them,
“[I]t's one thing to be buried with all your pleasures, like Sardanapalus; it's another to be buried right plunk in front of them, where you can see them.”
- informalOften reduplicated: used to represent a brief, dull sound, such as the sound of a string of a stringed instrument being plucked, or the thud of something landing on a surface.
“Look at me; is my eye dilated? do you notice a quiver anywhere? Feel my pulse: plunk—plunk—plunk—same as if I were asleep.”
“It was the noise of rowing, hard, fast rowing, the noise of two pairs of oars in a native boat, pin oars, and the slap, slap of a boat's bows into the short waves. She knew that noise well. It came ne”
“John, swinging the axe, plunk, plunk, plunk, was chopping the thinner branches all to the same length.”
- informal, transitiveTo move (something) with a sudden push.
“The moving galley's bow was plunking them [oars] back through their own oar-holes, and I could hear no end of a shindy in the decks below.”
- figuratively, informal, transitiveChiefly followed by down or out: to pay (money); to plank.
“Just let them tell him a thing is pretty and fashionable, and Matthew plunks his money down for it.”
- informal, transitiveTo pluck and quickly release (a string of a stringed instrument); also, to play (a stringed instrument) by plucking strings; to play (a piano, etc.) by striking keys; or, to play (a note or tune) on such an instrument.
“Your bass teacher loathed you for loathing the instrument. Every lesson was the same: You would plunk out a few notes, and he would stop you. "Did you practice?" / "Some," you would say. / "You have t”
“Her friends were boggled by how long it took her to plunk out simple texts, but Kate says she learned skills her peers have never had to master.”
- also, informal, reflexive, transitiveOften followed by down: to drop, set, or throw (something, or oneself) abruptly and/or heavily into or on to a surface or some other thing, making a dull sound; to plump.
“Enrique plunked his money down on the counter with a sigh and bellied up to the bar.”
“Exhausted, she plunked herself on the sofa.”
- US, informal, transitiveTo hit or injure (someone or something); also, to shoot (someone or something) with a firearm.
“Say, I jes' jumped d' bar, an' d' way I plunked [hit] dat bloke was outa sight. See? Dat's right! In d' jaw!”
- US, informal, transitiveTo pitch a ball in a way that it hits (a player).
“The Braves retaliated by plunking Harper in the next inning.”
- informal, intransitiveTo make a brief, dull sound, such as the thud of something landing on a surface; to thud.
- figuratively, informal, intransitiveFollowed by for: to choose, to opt; to plump.
- informal, intransitiveTo pluck and quickly release a string of a musical instrument; also, to play a stringed instrument by plucking strings; to play a piano, etc., by striking keys; or, to play a note or tune on such an instrument.
“[D]eafening was what H. V. W. would call the din from the rock stars' dressing rooms where electric guitars whined, drums rattled, sitars plunked; and marijuana made the air a tender blue.”
- informal, intransitiveOften followed by down: to drop, land, or set abruptly and/or heavily into or on to a surface or some other thing with a dull sound; to plump down.
- informal, intransitive, obsoleteOf a raven: to croak.
- Scotland, informal, transitiveTo be absent from (school) without permission; to be a truant.
- Scotland, informal, intransitiveTo play truant.
“Unless we repented and humbly begged for mercy … I might as well tell lies, break crockery, kick the cat, plunk from school, and enjoy my transgressions.”
Formsplunks(plural) · plunks(present, singular, third-person) · plunking(participle, present) · plunked(participle, past) · plunked(past) · Plunks(plural)