plumb-linev.
/ˈplʌmlʌɪn/, U.S. /ˈpləmˌlaɪn/ rare.
transitive. To measure or judge as with a plumb line. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > try, test [verb (transitive)]
cuneOE
afondOE
found1340
searcha1382
experiment1481
experience1541
probe1542
try1545
invent1548
sound1589
to bring or put to the test1594
plumb1599
to feel out1600
essay1656
test1748
plumb-line1875
to try out1888
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > the quality of being specific > make specific [verb (transitive)] > render determinate or definite
conditionate1646
determinate1672
to fasten down1694
define1790
plumb-line1875
pinpoint1922
1875 G. H. Lewes Probl. Life & Mind II. ii. §78. 90 Some unattainable depth to be postulated, but not plumb-lined.
1925 J. Pennell Adventures Illustrator iii. 24 He was always getting in my way when he was photographing and plumb-lining, and I was drawing in French cathedrals.
1973 Odessa (Texas) Amer. 9 Mar. 8 a/1 Newsmen Landau and Graham asked too much. Justice White went too far. Senator Ervin has plumblined the matter precisely.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
v.1875