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.