Part 358

Addison.

3. The act of pitching or throwing one's self headlong or violently forward, like an unruly horse.

4. Heavy and reckless betting in horse racing; hazardous speculation.

Plunge bath, an immersion by plunging; also, a large bath in which the bather can wholly immerse himself. -- Plunge, or plunging, battery (Elec.), a voltaic battery so arranged that the plates can be plunged into, or withdrawn from, the exciting liquid at pleasure.

Plun"ger (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, plunges; a diver.

2. A long solid cylinder, used, instead of a piston or bucket, as a forcer in pumps.

3. One who bets heavily and recklessly on a race; a reckless speculator.

4. (Pottery) A boiler in which clay is beaten by a wheel to a creamy consistence. Knight.

5. (Gun.) The firing pin of a breechloader.

Plunger bucket, a piston, without a valve, in a pump. -- Plunger pole, the pump rod of a pumping engine. -- Plunger pump, a pump, as for water, having a plunger, instead of a piston, to act upon the water. It may be single-acting or double-acting

Plun"ket (?), n. A kind of blue color; also, anciently, a kind of cloth, generally blue.

Plu"per`fect (?), a. [L. plus more + perfectus perfect; cf. F. plus-que-parfait, L. plusquamperfectum.] More than perfect; past perfect; -- said of the tense which denotes that an action or event was completed at or before the time of another past action or event. -- n. The pluperfect tense; also, a verb in the pluperfect tense.

Plu"ral (?), a. [L. pluralis, from plus, pluris, more; cf. F. pluriel, OF. plurel. See Plus.] Relating to, or containing, more than one; designating two or more; as, a plural word.

Plural faith, which is too much by one.

Shak.

Plural number (Gram.), the number which designates more than one. See Number, n., 8.

Plu"ral, n. (Gram.) The plural number; that form of a word which expresses or denotes more than one; a word in the plural form.

Plu"ral*ism (?), n. 1. The quality or state of being plural, or in the plural number.

2. (Eccl.) The state of a pluralist; the holding of more than one ecclesiastical living at a time. [Eng.]

Plu"ral*ist, n. (Eccl.) A clerk or clergyman who holds more than one ecclesiastical benefice. [Eng.]

Of the parochial clergy, a large proportion were pluralists.

Macaulay.

Plu*ral"i*ty (?), n.; pl. pluralities (#). [L. pluralitas: cf. F. pluralitÈ.] 1. The state of being plural, or consisting of more than one; a number consisting of two or more of the same kind; as, a plurality of worlds; the plurality of a verb.

2. The greater number; a majority; also, the greatest of several numbers; in elections, the excess of the votes given for one candidate over those given for another, or for any other, candidate. When there are more than two candidates, the one who receives the plurality of votes may have less than a majority. See Majority.

Take the plurality of the world, and they are neither wise nor good.

L'Estrange.

3. (Eccl.) See Plurality of benefices, below.

Plurality of benefices (Eccl.), the possession by one clergyman of more than one benefice or living. Each benefice thus held is called a plurality. [Eng.]