Part 352

Barham.

Pluff (?), v. t. [Prob. of imitative origin.] To throw out, as smoke, dust, etc., in puffs. [Scot.]

Pluff, n. 1. A puff, as of smoke from a pipe, or of dust from a puffball; a slight explosion, as of a small quantity of gunpowder. [Scot.]

2. A hairdresser's powder puff; also, the act of using it. [Scot.]

Plug (?), n. [Akin to D. plug, G. pflock, Dan. plˆk, plug, Sw. plugg; cf. W. ploc.] 1. Any piece of wood, metal, or other substance used to stop or fill a hole; a stopple.

2. A flat oblong cake of pressed tobacco. [U. S.]

3. A high, tapering silk hat. [Slang, U.S.]

4. A worthless horse. [Slang, U.S.]

5. (Building) A block of wood let into a wall, to afford a hold for nails.

Fire plug, a street hydrant to which hose may be attached. [U. S.] -- Hawse plug (Naut.), a plug to stop a hawse hole. -- Plug and feather. (Stone Working) See Feather, n., 7. -- Plug centerbit, a centerbit ending in a small cylinder instead of a point, so as to follow and enlarge a hole previously made, or to form a counterbore around it. -- Plug rod (Steam Eng.) , a rod attached to the beam for working the valves, as in the Cornish engine. -- Plug valve (Mech.), a tapering valve, which turns in a case like the plug of a faucet.

Plug (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plugged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Plugging (?).] To stop with a plug; to make tight by stopping a hole.

Plug"ger (?), n. One who, or that which, plugs.

Plug"ging, n. 1. The act of stopping with a plug.

2. The material of which a plug or stopple is made.

Plum (?), n. [AS. plme, fr. L. prunum; akin to Gr. &?;, &?;. Cf. Prune a dried plum.]

1. (Bot.) The edible drupaceous fruit of the Prunus domestica, and of several other species of Prunus; also, the tree itself, usually called plum tree.

The bullace, the damson, and the numerous varieties of plum, of our gardens, although growing into thornless trees, are believed to be varieties of the blackthorn, produced by long cultivation.

G. Bentham.

Two or three hundred varieties of plums derived from the Prunus domestica are described; among them the greengage, the Orleans, the purple gage, or Reine Claude Violette, and the German prune, are some of the best known.

Among the true plums are; Beach plum, the Prunus maritima, and its crimson or purple globular drupes, -- Bullace plum. See Bullace. -- Chickasaw plum, the American Prunus Chicasa, and its round red drupes. -- Orleans plum, a dark reddish purple plum of medium size, much grown in England for sale in the markets. -- Wild plum of America, Prunus Americana, with red or yellow fruit, the original of the Iowa plum and several other varieties.

Among plants called plum, but of other genera than Prunus, are; Australian plum, Cargillia arborea and C. australis, of the same family with the persimmon. -- Blood plum, the West African HÊmatostaphes Barteri. -- Cocoa plum, the Spanish nectarine. See under Nectarine. -- Date plum. See under Date. -- Gingerbread plum, the West African Parinarium macrophyllum. -- Gopher plum, the Ogeechee lime. -- Gray plum, Guinea plum. See under Guinea. -- Indian plum, several species of Flacourtia.

2. A grape dried in the sun; a raisin.

3. A handsome fortune or property; formerly, in cant language, the sum of £100,000 sterling; also, the person possessing it.

Plum bird, Plum budder (Zoˆl.), the European bullfinch. -- Plum gouger (Zoˆl.), a weevil, or curculio (Coccotorus scutellaris), which destroys plums. It makes round holes in the pulp, for the reception of its eggs. The larva bores into the stone and eats the kernel. -- Plum weevil (Zoˆl.), an American weevil which is very destructive to plums, nectarines, cherries, and many other stone fruits. It lays its eggs in crescent-shaped incisions made with its jaws. The larva lives upon the pulp around the stone. Called also turk, and plum curculio. See Illust. under Curculio.

||Plu"ma (pl"m), n.; pl. PlumÊ (-m). [L.] (Zoˆl.) A feather.

Plum"age (plm"j), n. [F., from plume a feather.] (Zoˆl.) The entire clothing of a bird.

It consist of the contour feathers, or the ordinary feathers covering the head, neck, and body; the tail feathers, with their upper and lower coverts; the wing feathers, including primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries, with their coverts; and the down which lies beneath the contour feathers. See Illust. under Bird.

Plu*mas"sa*ry (?), n. [Cf. F. plumasseau.] A plume or collection of ornamental feathers.