Plummets

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Moves or drops quickly and steeply downward from a higher position
2. Descends suddenly in a rapid and uncontrolled manner
3. Falls abruptly and dramatically from a raised point

Etymology: The verb "plummets" began life as a measuring tool. A plummet was a weight of lead hung on a line to find the depth of water or check that a wall stood perfectly upright, and the Middle English noun "plommet" was recorded as early as 1382. It came from Old French "plommet" or "plomet", a little form of "plom" meaning "lead", which in turn came from Latin "plumbum", the same metal that gives us the word plumbing. The downward sense came later, and it grew out of the weight's job. Around 1626 the noun was turned into a verb meaning to fathom, or take soundings of water depth with a line and lead weight. The motion of that sinking weight, dropping straight down through the water, is what the verb later took on, so that a thing that plummets now falls steeply and heavily, like the lead itself.

Synonyms: falls, drops, descends, plunges, tumbles

Antonyms: ascends, rises, soars, climbs, increases