Falling or dropping very rapidly and steeply, usually downward with force and speed.
From 'plummet,' which comes from Old French 'plombe' (lead). A plummet was literally a lead weight used by carpenters, and it falls straight down—hence the verb meaning to fall fast.
A plummet is a lead weight with a string, used by builders to check if walls are vertical—it literally plummets downward, and that's how the word got its meaning of 'falling fast'!
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