Plunge

plunge
    n 1: a brief swim in water [syn: {dip}, {plunge}]
    2: a steep and rapid fall
    v 1: thrust or throw into; "Immerse yourself in hot water" [syn:
         {immerse}, {plunge}]
    2: drop steeply; "the stock market plunged" [syn: {dive},
       {plunge}, {plunk}]
    3: dash violently or with great speed or impetuosity; "She
       plunged at it eagerly"
    4: begin with vigor; "He launched into a long diatribe"; "She
       plunged into a dangerous adventure" [syn: {plunge}, {launch}]
    5: cause to be immersed; "The professor plunged his students
       into the study of the Italian text" [syn: {plunge},
       {immerse}]
    6: fall abruptly; "It plunged to the bottom of the well" [syn:
       {plunge}, {dump}]
    7: immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or
       saturate; "dip the garment into the cleaning solution"; "dip
       the brush into the paint" [syn: {dunk}, {dip}, {souse},
       {plunge}, {douse}]
    8: devote (oneself) fully to; "He immersed himself into his
       studies" [syn: {steep}, {immerse}, {engulf}, {plunge},
       {engross}, {absorb}, {soak up}]
    

Plunge \Plunge\, v. i.
   1. To thrust or cast one's self into water or other fluid; to
      submerge one's self; to dive, or to rush in; as, he
      plunged into the river. Also used figuratively; as, to
      plunge into debt.
      [1913 Webster]

            Forced to plunge naked in the raging sea. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

            To plunge into guilt of a murther.    --Tillotson.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To pitch or throw one's self headlong or violently
      forward, as a horse does.
      [1913 Webster]

            Some wild colt, which . . . flings and plunges.
                                                  --Bp. Hall.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To bet heavily and with seeming recklessness on a race, or
      other contest; in an extended sense, to risk large sums in
      hazardous speculations. [Cant]
      [1913 Webster]

   {Plunging fire} (Gun.), firing directed upon an enemy from an
      elevated position.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Plunge \Plunge\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Plunged}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Plunging}.] [OE. ploungen, OF. plongier, F. plonger, fr.
   (assumed) LL. plumbicare, fr. L. plumbum lead. See {Plumb}.]
   1. To thrust into water, or into any substance that is
      penetrable; to immerse; to cause to penetrate or enter
      quickly and forcibly; to thrust; as, to plunge the body
      into water; to plunge a dagger into the breast. Also used
      figuratively; as, to plunge a nation into war. "To plunge
      the boy in pleasing sleep." --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

            Bound and plunged him into a cell.    --Tennyson.
      [1913 Webster]

            We shall be plunged into perpetual errors. --I.
                                                  Watts.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To baptize by immersion.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To entangle; to embarrass; to overcome. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Plunged and graveled with three lines of Seneca.
                                                  --Sir T.
                                                  Browne.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Plunge \Plunge\, n.
   1. The act of thrusting into or submerging; a dive, leap,
      rush, or pitch into, or as into, water; as, to take the
      water with a plunge.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Hence, a desperate hazard or act; a state of being
      submerged or overwhelmed with difficulties. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            She was brought to that plunge, to conceal her
            husband's murder or accuse her son.   --Sir P.
                                                  Sidney.
      [1913 Webster]

            And with thou not reach out a friendly arm,
            To raise me from amidst this plunge of sorrows?
                                                  --Addison.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. The act of pitching or throwing one's self headlong or
      violently forward, like an unruly horse.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Heavy and reckless betting in horse racing; hazardous
      speculation. [Cant]
      [1913 Webster]

   {Plunge bath}, an immersion by plunging; also, a large bath
      in which the bather can wholly immerse himself.

   {Plunge battery}, or {plunging battery} (Elec.), a voltaic
      battery so arranged that the plates can be plunged into,
      or withdrawn from, the exciting liquid at pleasure.
      [1913 Webster]
    

379 Moby Thesaurus words for "plunge":
      abate, ablate, advance, agiotage, ante, ante up, arbitrage, ascend,
      back, back up, bate, be caught short, be eaten away, be short,
      beat down, belong, bet, bet on, blunder, boil, break, bucket,
      bucketshop, budge, bundle, burst, burst of speed, bustle, buy in,
      buy into, buying in, calculated risk, call, canter, careen, career,
      cascade, catabasis, cataract, chance, change, change place, charge,
      chase, cheapen, cheapening, circle, climb, collapse, come down,
      consume, consume away, corrode, cover, crash, cropper, crowd,
      crumble, culbute, cut, cut prices, dash, dash off, dash on,
      dead run, deceleration, declension, decline, decline and fall,
      decrease, decrescendo, deflate, deflation, deliquesce,
      deposit margin, depreciate, depreciation, descend, descent,
      devaluate, devaluation, die away, dig, diminish, diminuendo, dip,
      dip down, dive, dive into, dogtrot, double-time, down, downtrend,
      downturn, drive, drop, drop down, drop off, dwindle, dwindling,
      ebb, engulf, equity capital, erode, fade, fall, fall away,
      fall down, fall headlong, fall in price, fall off, falter,
      festinate, financier, flank speed, flat-out speed, flier, fling,
      flop, flounce, flounder, flow, flutter, forced draft,
      forced landing, fortune, full gallop, gallop, gamble, get going,
      get moving, get over, give way, go, go around, go down,
      go downhill, go long, go off half-cocked, go round, go sideways,
      gravitate, gyrate, hand gallop, hasten, hazard, head, header,
      headlong rush, heave, heavy right foot, high lope, hobbyhorse,
      hold on, hurry, hurry on, hurry through, hurry up, hurry-scurry,
      hustle, immerse, immersion, incline, invest, invest in, investment,
      jew down, jog trot, keel over, labor, languish, lapse, lay,
      lay a wager, lay down, lay out money, lead, lean, leap, lessen,
      let up, liquidation, lope, lose altitude, lose no time, lower,
      lowering, luck, lunge, lurch, make a bet, make a killing,
      make a scoop, make an investment, make haste, make heavy weather,
      margin up, mark down, markdown, maximum speed, meet a bet,
      melt away, miss the market, mount, move, move over, move quickly,
      natatorium, nose dive, nose-dive, nosedive, open throttle, operate,
      overstay the market, overwhelm, parachute, pare, parlay, pass,
      pitch, pitch and plunge, pitch and toss, place, play, play against,
      play the market, plop, plow back into, plummet, plummeting, plump,
      plunge bath, plunge headlong, plunge into, plunk, point, pool,
      post, pounce, pounce on, pounce upon, pound, pour down, pratfall,
      precipitate, press on, price cut, price fall, price reduction,
      prime investment, profit taking, progress, propel, punt, push,
      push on, put, pyramid, race, rain, ram, rear, reduce, reduction,
      reel, regress, reinvest, remission, retreat, retrogress, rise,
      risk, rock, roll, rotate, round trade, run, run low, rush,
      rush into, rush through, sag, scalp, scalping, scamper, scend,
      scoop the market, scramble, scud, scurry, scuttle, see, seethe,
      settle, shave, shift, shove, shrink, sink, sink money in, skid,
      skin-dive, sky-dive, slash, slowdown, slump, soar, sound,
      speculate, speculation, spill, spin, spot sale, sprawl, sprint,
      spurt, stab, stag, stag the market, stagger, stake, stand pat,
      stick, stir, stockjobbery, stockjobbing, stoop, stream, struggle,
      stumble, submerge, submersion, subside, subsidence, sway,
      swimming bath, swimming hole, swimming pool, swing, swoop,
      swoop down, tail off, take a flier, take a header, tear, tend,
      tend to go, thrash about, thrust, topple, toss, toss and tumble,
      toss and turn, totter, trade on margin, travel, trend downward,
      trim, trip, trot, tumble, turn, uncertainty, venture,
      venture capital, volutation, wading pool, wager, wallop, wallow,
      wane, waste, waste away, wear, wear away, welter, whirl,
      wide-open speed, yaw