plump

Etymology 1

From Middle English plump, plompe, a borrowing from Middle Dutch plomp or Middle Low German plump. Cognate with Saterland Frisian plump (“plump”).

adj

1. Having a full and rounded shape; chubby, somewhat overweight.
   a plump baby; plump cheeks
   The god of wine did his plump clusters bring. 1651, Thomas Carew, To my friend G. N. from Wrest
   My ideal is to be idle and to love a plump girl. 2015, Anton Chekhov, The Life and Genius of Anton Chekhov: Letters, Diary, Reminiscences and Biography: Assorted Collection of Autobiographical Writings of the Renowned Russian Author and Playwright of Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, The Three Sisters and The Seagull, e-artnow
   He was a plump little man and we had been walking uphill at a pace—set by him—far too rapid for his short legs. He breathed stertorously, and half the drops which glimmered on his rotund face were not rain but sweat. 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 23, in Crime out of Mind
2. Fat.
3. Sudden and without reservation; blunt; direct; downright.
   After the plump statement that the author was at Erceldoune and spake with Thomas. 1898, George Saintsbury, A Short History of English Literature

verb

1. (intransitive) To grow plump; to swell out.
   Her cheeks have plumped.
2. (transitive) To make plump; to fill (out) or support; often with up.
   to plump oysters or scallops by placing them in fresh or brackish water
3. (transitive) To cast or let drop all at once, suddenly and heavily.
   to plump a stone into water
4. (intransitive) To give a plumper (kind of vote).
5. (transitive) To give (a vote), as a plumper.
6. (transitive with for) To favor or decide in favor of something.
   A recent poll by the New York Times found that although most Brazilians plump for arch-rival Argentina as the team they most want to lose, the second-biggest group want Brazil itself to stumble. 2014, “Brazil in a nutshell”, in The Economist

Etymology 2

From Middle English plumpen, akin to Middle Dutch plompen, Middle Low German plumpen, German plumpfen.

verb

1. (intransitive) To drop or fall suddenly or heavily, all at once.
   September 24, 1712, The Spectator No. 492, letter from a prude Dulcissa plumps into a chair.

adv

1. Directly; suddenly; perpendicularly.

noun

1. The sound of a sudden heavy fall.
   As she beheld her, poor Mrs. Mack's heart fluttered up to her mouth, and then dropped with a dreadful plump, into the pit of her stomach. 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard

Etymology 3

From Middle English plump.

noun

1. (obsolete) A knot or cluster; a group; a crowd.
   a plump of trees, fowls, or spears
2. A group of geese flying close together.