plump1 adjectiveplump2 verb
plumpplump1 /plʌmp/ ●○○ adjective 
Word OriginWORD ORIGINplump1
ExamplesOrigin:
1400-1500 Middle Dutch plomp ‘dull, not sharp’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- plump juicy strawberries
- a plump woman in her fifties
- Frieda's mother was a plump, cheerful woman, quick with a laugh.
- He's a little on the plump side, but nevertheless quite handsome.
- Paula had silver bracelets on her plump arms.
- Stevie is a plump healthy-looking child.
- The doctor's wife had a plump face and a small mouth.
- Isabel bounced once against the plump straw mattress, then made a frantic bid for freedom.
- Miss Withington was a small, plump young woman between Agnes and Prudence in age.
- She must have been in her sixties, plump, with a crown of dyed brown curls.
- The comforters on the beds were abnormally plump.
- The four plump man-apes were still there, and now they were doing extraordinary things.
- The good cut made his shoulders look their proper width and reduced his generally plump look.
- The stuffed dates looked like plump roaches.
- You're too short and too plump - though your skin's not that bad.
THESAURUS► fat
Collocations having too much flesh on your body. It is rude to tell someone that they are fat. It is also better not to use any of these words when talking directly to someone about their body: · She thinks she’s fat.· He looks the same, just a little fatter.
► overweight weighing more than you should: · Many medical conditions are caused by being overweight.· She was several kilos overweight.
► big/large used when saying that someone has a big body. Large is more common than big in written English: · My father was a big man.· two large ladies
► obese extremely fat in a way that is dangerous to your health: · He went to a summer camp for obese teenagers.
► chubby slightly fat in a nice-looking way – used especially about babies and children: · A chubby little baby was playing on the rug.
► plump a woman or child who is plump is slightly fat, especially in a pleasant way: · Her mother was a plump cheerful woman.
► flabby having soft loose skin that looks unattractive: · a flabby stomach· Her body was getting old and flabby.
► portly literary fat and round – used especially about fairly old men: · The bishop was a portly middle-aged gentleman.
Longman Language Activatora part of the body that is fat► fat · Sally hates going swimming -- she thinks her legs are too fat.· The colonel rubbed his fat stomach, reaching for something from the table to put into his mouth. · My stomach's much fatter than yours.
► plump pleasantly fat: · The doctor's wife had a plump face and a small mouth.· Paula had silver bracelets on her plump arms.
► chubby fat and round in an attractive way: · The baby reached out with its chubby little fingers.· Mark's cheeks were slightly chubby.
► podgy/pudgy small and fat, especially in an amusing way: · His pudgy little fingers were covered in chocolate.· Elsie had a large body and a podgy face.
► flabby covered in soft loose fat in a way that looks unattractive: · Her body was getting old and flabby.· John's flabby white thighs wobbled as he walked across the beach.
► full fat and round in an attractive way: · Joanna's full red lips were fixed in an inviting smile.· A black necklace hung down over her full breasts.
words for describing someone who is fat► fat having too much flesh on your body. It is rude to tell someone that they are fat: · Peter was a fat little boy.· I'm getting too fat for my clothes.· After thirty years, Teddy looked just the same, only a little fatter.· Most fat people simply eat too much by normal standards.· Though she weighed only six stone, she thought she was fat.
► overweight too fat, especially so that you need to lose some weight in order to be more healthy or attractive: · The doctor said I was slightly overweight and that I needed more exercise.· The majority of overweight people who diet tend to gain the weight back within a few years.5 kilos/10 pounds etc overweight: · My mother is about 50 pounds overweight.grossly overweight (=extremely overweight): · People who are grossly overweight are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure.
► big/large fat - use this especially when you do not want to say 'fat' because it would be impolite: · Even though she's big, Rosemary is an attractive woman.· It's often difficult for large people to find fashionable clothes that fit them.· Mrs. Medlock is a large woman, with a very red face and bright black eyes.· He runs quite fast for a big man.
► plump fat, especially in a pleasant and attractive way: · Stevie is a plump healthy-looking child.· Frieda's mother was a plump, cheerful woman, quick with a laugh. · He's a little on the plump side, but nevertheless quite handsome.
► chubby someone, especially a small child, who is chubby , is fat in a pleasant, healthy-looking way: · The baby was pink and chubby.· Who's that chubby little girl with the dark hair?
► portly someone, especially a fairly old man, who is portly is fat and round - used especially in literature: · The bishop was a dignified, portly man, with thinning white hair.· the portly figure of General von Hindenburg
► hefty big and fat, but also tall and strong: · Both of Myra's sons were hefty, energetic boys.· The mechanic was a big hefty man who could lift up the front of a truck with his bare hands.
► beefy strong but also a little fat and unattractive: · The second prisoner was a fat-faced beefy fellow who smelled of sweat.· Amanda and Tina were both beefy, sporty types.
► burly a burly man is big, strong, and heavy, in a way that may make you feel nervous: · The farmer was a big, burly man with a red face.
► fatty/fatso spoken informal also lard ass American spoken a rude word used for a fat person: · Hey! Fatso! Pull up a couple of chairs!
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN► face
1slightly fat in a fairly pleasant way – used especially about women or children, often to avoid saying the word ‘fat’: · It was a plump face, unnaturally rosy, and sleep-creased like a small cushion.· A balding man with a plump face, his eyes shifted back and forth from his interpreter to the judge.· Her plump face was thinner, and lined down the cheeks.· He was in his early forties with a receding hairline, a plump face and a small mouth.· But his plump face and crazed eyes suggested he was merely a psychotic.· Her pale, plump face was serene.
► hand· The endomorph is round and soft, with shortish limbs, and small, plump hands and feet.· Now he held her, his plump hands with fingers like sausages trying to steady her.
► man· I looked towards the stone angel where the plump man had been standing, but there was no sign of him.· A short, plump man with dark hair walked in behind her.· So, eight years ago, the plump man had been honest, sober and industrious.· It showed a large, plump man, already balding but with a pink, childlike face.· Focusing on a plump man with dark hair at a bus-stop he decides the people are Latin.· He was a plump man who looked as if he would burst if you sat on him.
► woman· Bessie was a fiery character, a large plump woman with a shock of ginger hair, freckles and green eyes.· They had to be youngish, plump women.· A plump woman in a white wool suit and dark glasses bought it and tried to pay for it by cheque.· She was a plump woman in a knitted suit whose chief concern, she told Josie, was pastoral care.· One was occupied by a plump woman in her forties, who was briskly sorting through a pile of letters.· The fact is, Elizabeth Taylor is a plump woman who is exceptionally beautiful that way.· She is simply the victim of the kind of prejudice which all plump women experience in their everyday lives, including me.
The nurse was a cheerful plump woman. The baby’s nice and plump.► see thesaurus at fat2round and full in a way that looks attractive: plump soft pillows plump juicy tomatoes—plumpness noun [uncountable]plump1 adjectiveplump2 verb
plumpplump2 verb Word OriginWORD ORIGINplump2
Verb TableOrigin:
1,4 1500-1600 ➔ PLUMP12-3,5 1200-1300 Copying the actionVERB TABLE
plump
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | plump |
| he, she, it | plumps | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | plumped |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have plumped |
| he, she, it | has plumped | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had plumped |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will plump |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have plumped |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am plumping |
| he, she, it | is plumping | |
| you, we, they | are plumping | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was plumping |
| you, we, they | were plumping | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been plumping |
| he, she, it | has been plumping | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been plumping |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be plumping |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been plumping |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Boil the dried fruit until it plumps up in the cooking liquid.
- You can plump the bags down anywhere you like.
- Add oysters and saute until they just begin to plump, about 1 minute.
- Do you plump for a bottle with an attractive label or simply stick to a wine that is familiar?
- He'd have liked to plump for the Algarve but, he said wistfully, you do go over the £1,000.
- It could be the question, whether to plump for a great evolutionary jump or stay put in the icy brine.
- We could just plump for Aristotle's report, as the earliest and therefore most reliable.
Longman Language Activatorto finally choose something after considering all the possibilities► decide on
Collocations to finally choose something, especially when making the decision has been difficult or has taken a long time: · Have you decided on a name for the baby yet?· We couldn't decide on a new color for the kitchen, so we left it white.
► settle on if someone, especially a group of people, settles on something, they finally agree to choose that thing after considering all the possibilities, discussing it etc: · Hiroaki wanted white and I wanted black, so we settled on grey.· Can we at least settle on a date for our next meeting?· We finally settled on Miami as the site of our next conference.
► plump for British informal to choose one of two or more things after thinking carefully about it, especially if you have had difficulty in deciding: · They thought of going to Madeira or mainland Spain, but finally plumped for the Canary Islands.· She looked at every sweater in the shop before plumping for a red mohair one.
► opt to choose something after thinking carefully about all the possibilities: opt for: · After college, Ruffin opted for the Army over college.opt to do something: · When her parents divorced, Mary Ann opted to live with her father.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► up
Phrases· Add the chopped prunes, apricots, apples, raisins and broken walnuts and cook gently until the fruits plump up.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► plump (yourself) down
1 (also plump up) [transitive] to gently hit cushionsor pillows in order to make them rounder and softer2plump (yourself) down to sit down suddenly and heavily SYN plonk3[transitive always + adverb/preposition] to put something down suddenly and carelessly SYN plonk: - Peggy plumped down in the chair beside Otto.
Plump the bags down anywhere you like.4 (also plump up) [intransitive, transitive] if dried fruit plumps up, or if you plump it up, it becomes fatter and softer when in liquid: Soak the apricots and raisins until the fruit plumps up.plump for something/somebody phrasal verb British English informal to choose something or someone after thinking carefully about it: Finally we plumped for a bottle of champagne.