MEANING
To decide to do something significant, especially after hesitating or considering it for some time.
Use it for
describing a long-delayed commitment; showing someone finally beginning a major undertaking; moving from consideration to action; naming the decision to attempt something uncertainCaptures the transition from prolonged consideration to committed action. Writing functions: Decision-making.
Words that belong together
- finally take the plunge
- take the plunge into a new venture
On the page
After years of translating in private, he took the plunge and submitted a story.
They took the plunge and opened the archive to independent researchers.
Word forms
- Base
- take the plunge
Usage notes
Verbal idiom: take/takes/took/taken/taking the plunge. Often followed by and plus a verb, or into plus an activity. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
Keep a thought for later. Sign in to save privately.