Dictionary

plimsoll en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈplɪmsoʊl/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Samuel Plimsoll, a Bristol merchant who created a system of marks and symbols for the waterline of ships. The shoe was possibly named because the line of its sole resembled the Plimsoll line of ship.

Meanings

1. (Ireland, UK) A rubber-soled lace-up canvas shoe for sports or onboard ships; a precursor of trainers.
   • While here, now, a large boy, a famous bully, swaggered to the front to bend, leering, and offer his satirical backside to be ineffectually beaten with a plimsoll by the gentle Scot. 2022, Ian McEwan, Lessons, page 8:
   • “Yes, there are two distinct sets of footprints, both wearing rubber shoes—one I think ordinary plimsolls, the other goloshes,” replied the sergeant. 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 13, in Well Tackled!:
2. The plimsoll symbol ⦵ (or o) that is used as a superscript in the notation of thermodynamics to indicate an arbitrarily chosen non-zero reference point.

Forms

Deriveds

plimsolled

Relateds

Plimsoll mark · Plimsoll line

Synonyms

sandshoe · pump · dap

Translations (6)

fi koripallokenkä (early sports shoes) · cs teniska (early sports shoes) · fi tennari (early sports shoes) · el πάνινα παπούτσια (early sports shoes) · bg гуменки (early sports shoes) · pl trampek (early sports shoes)