plumbing

plumbing
    n 1: utility consisting of the pipes and fixtures for the
         distribution of water or gas in a building and for the
         disposal of sewage [syn: {plumbing}, {plumbing system}]
    2: the occupation of a plumber (installing and repairing pipes
       and fixtures for water or gas or sewage in a building) [syn:
       {plumbing}, {plumbery}]
    3: measuring the depths of the oceans [syn: {bathymetry},
       {plumbing}]
    

Plumb \Plumb\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Plumbed} (pl[u^]md); p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Plumbing} (pl[u^]m"[i^]ng).]
   1. To adjust by a plumb line; to cause to be perpendicular;
      as, to plumb a building or a wall.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To sound with a plumb or plummet, as the depth of water;
      hence, to examine by test; to ascertain the depth,
      quality, dimension, etc.; to sound; to fathom; to test.
      [1913 Webster]

            He did not attempt to plumb his intellect. --Ld.
                                                  Lytton.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To seal with lead; as, to plumb a drainpipe.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To supply, as a building, with a system of plumbing.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Plumbing \Plumb"ing\, n.
   1. The art of casting and working in lead, and applying it to
      building purposes; especially, the business of furnishing,
      fitting, and repairing pipes for conducting water, sewage,
      etc. --Gwilt.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The lead or iron pipes, and other apparatus, used in
      conveying water, sewage, etc., in a building.
      [1913 Webster]
    

plumbing
 n.

   [Unix] Term used for {shell} code, so called because of the prevalence
   of pipelines that feed the output of one program to the input of
   another. Under Unix, user utilities can often be implemented or at
   least prototyped by a suitable collection of pipelines and temp-file
   grinding encapsulated in a shell script; this is much less effort than
   writing C every time, and the capability is considered one of Unix's
   major winning features. A few other OSs such as IBM's VM/CMS support
   similar facilities. Esp.: used in the construction hairy plumbing (see
   {hairy}). "You can kluge together a basic spell-checker out of
   sort(1), comm(1), and tr(1) with a little plumbing." See also {tee}.
    

plumbing

   (Unix) Term used for {shell} code, so called because of the
   prevalence of "{pipelines}" that feed the output of one
   program to the input of another.  Under {Unix}, user utilities
   can often be implemented or at least prototyped by a suitable
   collection of pipelines and temporary file {grind}ing
   encapsulated in a {shell script}.  This is much less effort
   than writing {C} every time, and the capability is considered
   one of Unix's major winning features.  A few other {operating
   systems} such as {IBM}'s {VM/CMS} support similar facilities.

   The {tee} utility is specifically designed for plumbing.

   [{Jargon File}]

   (1995-02-23)
    

33 Moby Thesaurus words for "plumbing":
      accouterments, apparatus, appliances, appointments, appurtenances,
      armament, conveniences, duffel, equipage, equipment, facilities,
      facility, fittings, fixtures, furnishings, furniture, gear,
      impedimenta, installations, kit, machinery, materiel, munition,
      munitions, outfit, paraphernalia, plant, rig, rigging,
      stock-in-trade, tackle, things, utensils