plumb vs smack-dab

plumb

adv
  • Squarely, directly; deeply, completely. 

  • In a vertical direction; perpendicularly. 

noun
  • A little mass of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc., to indicate a vertical direction. 

  • A weight on the end of a long line, used by sailors to determine the depth of water. 

  • The perpendicular direction or position. 

verb
  • To attach to a water supply and drain. 

  • To use a plumb bob as a measuring or aligning tool. 

  • To think about or explore in depth, to get to the bottom of, especially to plumb the depths of. 

  • To accurately align vertically or horizontally. 

  • To work as a plumber. 

  • To determine the depth, generally of a liquid; to sound. 

  • To fall or sink like a plummet. 

  • To position vertically above or below. 

adj
  • Describing an LBW where the batsman is hit on the pads directly in front of their wicket and should be given out. 

  • Truly vertical, as indicated by a plumb line. 

smack-dab

adv
  • Exactly in a place, especially the middle; directly; precisely; dead-center. 

How often have the words plumb and smack-dab occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )