Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Plumbing |
PlumbingNoun1. Utility consisting of the pipes and fixtures for the distribution of water or gas in a building and for the disposal of sewage. 2. The occupation of a plumber (installing and repairing pipes and fixtures for water or gas or sewage in a building). 3. Measuring the depths of the oceans. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "plumbing" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1897. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | Plumbing n. [Unix] Term used for shell code, so called because of the prevalence of `pipelines' that feed the output of one program to the input of another. Under Unix, user utilities can often be implemented or at least prototyped by a suitable collection of pipelines and temp-file grinding encapsulated in a shell script; this is much less effort than writing C every time, and the capability is considered one of Unix's major winning features. A few other OSs such as IBM's VM/CMS support similar facilities. Esp. used in the construction `hairy plumbing' (see hairy). "You can kluge together a basic spell-checker out of `sort(1)', `comm(1)', and `tr(1)' with a little plumbing." See also tee. Source: Jargon File. |
Mining | Transferring a point at one level to a point vertically below or above it by means of a weight (plumb bob or plummet) suspended at the end of a string or wire (plumbline). See also:centering of shaft; string survey. (references) |
Public Administration | Plumbing is a term employed in communication practice to designate coaxial lines or waveguides and accessory equipment for radio frequency transmission. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Plumbing, from the latin for Lead (Plumbus), is the trade of working with pipes for water, drainage and natural gas.
Types of Pipe
Types of pipes for different plumbing usage vary even inside a country by local code and customary usage.
Lead
Originally popular due to its high malleabilty, their use has been abandoned because of the highly toxic products that result when even slightly acidic water reacts with them.
Copper
Most modern domestic water piping is now in copper (although plastic has become the material of choice in recent applications). Copper is a good material because it is durable, light and easy to work with. Copper pipes are usually joined with the use of compression fittings or soldered (either by hand or using Yorkshire Fittings). The use of lead in solders has been subject to the same criticisms as lead pipes and so lead-free solders are now in use. Green residues in bathroom fixtures are indicative of acidic corrosion in copper pipes.Copper pipes usually mate with plastic pipes (e.g. the feed into a power shower) with push fit fittings.
Plastic
High strength plastic piping is sometimes used for both mains water and gas feeds, its main strengths being its resistance to the corrosive effects of being underground and its light weight.In domestic plumbing, several types of plastic are used. These include rigid PVC for cold water and waste systems, flexible polyethylene for cold water, flexible polybutylene (PB) for hot and cold water. Domestic plastic pipes with hot water feeds of the CPVC type use a special solvent. Rigid ABS and PP plastic are used for most of the waste system including vent stacks, and have largely replaced the much heavier cast iron pipes.
Domestic plastic pipes are generally glued, called solvent welding; however, threaded, push-fit or speed-fit fixings are sometimes used. Compression fittings are common when the plastic must connect with metallic pipes or fixtures.
Concrete
Moulded concrete pipes are mostly found underground in municipal water supply and sewage systems where a very large diameter pipe is required.
Glazed Tile
Usually used to provide drainage to low-lying fields or lawns, it is sometimes used in the portion of the waste systems outside the building. Often called field tile.
Steel
Commonly used in older houses and for gas lines. Threaded steel pipes are heavy and prone to rusting and leaking, especially in hot water lines, but continue as the material of choice for domestic small diameter gas lines.See also Domestic water system
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Plumbing."
Synonyms: PlumbingSynonyms: bathymetry (n), plumbery (n), plumbing system (n). (additional references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | When I'm running for my life I generally don't look back at the plumbing. (Reign of Fire; writing credit: Damon Packard) And some of them lead to the fanciest plumbing at the Ritz (King Creole; writing credit: Harold Robbins; Herbert Baker) Is this why you called us here? We already gave up! You won! We are too busy trying to perfect universal indoor plumbing! (Canadian Bacon; writing credit: Michael Moore) Ladies, you need female plumbing. Shove something clean and new up your filthy pipes (The Good Girl; writing credit: Mike White) Could be the plumbing. (The Immortal; writing credit: Rick Drew; Martin M. Borycki) | |
Movie/TV Titles | A Plumbing We Will Go (1940) Plumbing Is a 'Pipe' (1938) Basic Plumbing II (1998) Interior Plumbing (1994) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
References |
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Books | |
Periodicals | |
Consumer Goods | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Abandoned plumbing fixtures in Miami, Florida. Potential mosquito breeding site. Bathtub. Credit: CDC. |  | Fish culture tanks used for sea bream. Showing tank plumbing design. Ca. 1972. Credit: Small World. |
 | Complete with plumbing!. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Zander Plumbing Supply Co. show room. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Mitchell Field. "Plumbing system" of a fighting plane. The rear end of an air-cooled aviation engine with cowling removed, showing fuel lines, ignition leads, instrument leads and other intimate portions of the anatomy of a mighty flying power plant. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Mexican quarter of Los Angeles, California. Average rental eight dollars. Some houses have plumbing. See card 1799-C for detailed information. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Secondhand plumbing store in Brockton, Massachusetts. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Brockton, Mass., Dec. 1940, second-hand plumbing store. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Shell Chemical Corp., Bloomfield, New Jersey. Plumbing installation. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Noland Plumbing Co., Inc. Bird's-eye view of construction I. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Oldplumbing" by Marty Weis Commentary: "Some of the old plumbing in my basement...i don't spend much time down there, but maybe i should ;)." | "021010_05" by | Mwolfe | Commentary: "Some conduit and plumbing inside the 5th Avenue bar in d-troit." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption |
 | Clog; clogged; clogging; pipe; drain; drains; draining; sink; bathtub; plumber; plumbing. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Improved design and maintenance of cooling towers and plumbing systems to limit the growth and spread of Legionella organisms are the foundations of legionellosis prevention. (references) | |
Use window screens, chimney caps, and draft-guards beneath doors to attics, fill electrical and plumbing holes with stainless steel wool or caulking, and ensure that all doors to the outside close tightly. (references) | ||
However, the bacteria reproduce to high numbers in warm, stagnant water (90°-105° F), such as that found in certain plumbing systems and hot water tanks, cooling towers and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems, and whirlpool spas. Cases of legionellosis have been identified throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. (references) | ||
Business | Additionally, there is a widespread perception that electrical wiring and plumbing components are unsafe, with concern heightened by the use of dry-wall and wood construction. (references) | |
Imports in this sector are predominantly luxury or specialty products such as accessories, flooring, prefabricated wall panels, wall paper, doors, windows, paint raw materials, insulation specialties, and plumbing fixtures. (references) | ||
Very good sales prospects exist for products under Harmonized System (HS) codes 69.08.00, 84.81.00, 44.07.00, 31.14.00, and 83.02.00. These products include glazed ceramic flags and paving, plumbing fittings and faucets, wood sawn or chipped, putty, caulking compounds, painters’ fillings, builders’ hardware and fittings, veneer sheets, indoor walls and floors. (references) | ||
Economic History | Haiti | Other U.S. export prospects include electronic machinery, including power-generation sound and television equipment, plastics and paper, construction materials, plumbing fixtures, hardware, and lumber. (references) |
Turkey | Imports to Turkey include flooring, prefabricated wall panels, wall paper, doors, windows, paint, insulation, sanitary wares and plumbing fixtures, prefabricated homes, roofing and siding materials. (references) | |
Maldives | Plumbing hardware, ceramic fixtures, interior fittings, furniture, lamps, mirrors, and other accessories, mattresses, carpeting/floor coverings, industrial kitchen equipment, and cookware supplies: U.S. products are generally very well regarded. (references) | |
Human Rights | Georgia | Most prison facilities lack proper ventilation, plumbing, lighting, waste disposal, or sanitary medical facilities. (references) |
Guyana | One cell without plumbing or other facilities typically holds up to 30 detainees and often is the site of violence between inmates. (references) | |
Bahamas | Construction on the new 80-cell maximum-security building was completed in September, but the facility is not scheduled to open until January 2002. This building, which is to have larger cells and more extensive plumbing, should relieve some of the overcrowding in the existing block. (references) | |
Trade | Maldives | In addition, items imported for use in the tourism sector are exempted from duty, including: cement, corrugated metal sheets, glass, plywood, formed timber and wood; machinery (including commercial kitchen appliances such as ranges and freezers) and engines valued at US $1,000 or above; outboard engines and sea vessels (up to US $5,000 in value; vessels over US $5,000 receive 50% relief in duty); plumbing and toilet/tub/sink fittings; electrical equipment (e.g., air conditioners, refrigerators and fans); electrical wiring and cables; and desalinization plants, incinerators and compactors. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Plumbing" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 97.22% of the time. "Plumbing" is used about 252 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 97.22% | 245 | 19,065 |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 2.78% | 7 | 133,076 |
| Total | 100.00% | 252 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "plumbing": plumbing fixture ♦ plumbing system. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "plumbing": plumbing-in, plumbing-rule. | |
Ending with "plumbing": re-plumbing, sex-plumbing. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
plumbing | 2,580 | ferguson plumbing | 63 |
plumbing supply | 1,010 | bathroom plumbing | 56 |
plumbing fixture | 449 | mansfield plumbing | 52 |
plumbing repair | 231 | plumbing tip | 48 |
crane plumbing | 194 | residential plumbing | 47 |
plumbing problem | 171 | american standard plumbing fixture | 47 |
plumbing tool | 141 | plumbing toilet | 44 |
kohler plumbing | 133 | black man plumbing | 44 |
plumbing contractor | 131 | plumbing product | 44 |
plumbing code | 130 | plumbing services | 43 |
do it yourself plumbing | 123 | plumbing fitting | 43 |
plumbing job | 106 | diy plumbing | 43 |
plumbing part | 102 | kohler plumbing fixture | 43 |
american standard plumbing | 96 | commercial plumbing | 42 |
sterling plumbing | 84 | shower plumbing | 42 |
plumbing help | 81 | home plumbing | 42 |
plumbing question | 81 | plumbing pipe | 41 |
uniform plumbing code | 74 | pvc plumbing | 37 |
delta plumbing | 66 | pool plumbing | 36 |
plumbing school | 65 | plumbing wholesale | 35 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "plumbing"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | punë i hidraulikut, pajisje hidraulike, sistem hidraulik. (various references) | |
Arabic | سمكرية, عمل السمكري, أنابيب المياه. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | работа на водопроводчик, водопроводна инсталация, водопровод (aquation, aqueduct, conduit, piping, plumbery, water main), занаят на водопроводчик (plumbery). (various references) | |
Chinese | 配管. (various references) | |
Czech | klempířství, instalatérství, instalace (erection, fixtures, installation, wiring). (various references) | |
Danish | pudderrørsystem (dust circuit, dust line). (various references) | |
Dutch | poederleiding (duct, dust circuit, dust line, dusting tube), golfgeleideropbouw, afloding. (various references) | |
Finnish | putket, luotaus (sounding). (various references) | |
French | plomberie. (various references) | |
German | Punktabseigerung, peilung (bearing, locating, plotting, sounding), wasserleitung (aqueduct, faucet, tap, water conduit, water pipe), Stäubeleitung (dust circuit, dust line), rohrleitungen (piping), Luftkanalsystem (dust circuit, dust line), Klempnerei, Klempnerarbeit, installieren (install, put in, to install), installation (fitting, fittings, installation, installing), installateurarbeit, Hohlleiterzusammenbau, gasleitung (gas main, gas maink, gas pipe), Ablotung. (various references) | |
Greek | κύκλωμα επίπασης (dust circuit, dust line), κέντρωση οργάνου, καταβιβασμός, σωληνώσεισ, υδραβλικά, υδραυλικά, εργασία σωλήνων, εγκατάσταση διοχέτευσης σκόνης (dust circuit, dust line). (various references) | |
Hebrew | שרברבות (plumbery), אינסטלציה (installation), צנרת (pipe system, piping). (various references) | |
Hungarian | vízvezeték szerelés, vízvezeték rendszer, tömítés (blinding, casing, caulk, gasket, oakum, pad, plugging, seal, sealing, stuffing). (various references) | |
Indonesian | penjajakan (sounding out), penjajagan (sounding out). (various references) | |
Italian | piombatura (filling, lead coating, leading), tubatura (pipe, piping), lavoro di idraulico, equipaggiamento di guida d'onde, circuito della polvere (dust circuit, dust line). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 配管工業 , 配管 (piping). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | はいかんこうぎょう, はいかん (ceasing to publish, decommissioned warship, depths of one's heart, discontinuance of publication, innermost heart, inspect, lungs and livers, piping, see, visit). (various references) | |
Korean | 배관공사. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | umbingplay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | ofício de encanador, encanamento, circuito de polvilhamento (dust circuit, dust line), canalização (canalization, drain, pipage, pipelaying, piping, tubing). (various references) | |
Romanian | plumbuire, toaletã (can, closet, dress, dressing, John, lavatory, outhouse, powder room, privy, rest room, retiring room, toilet, w.c., washing, washstand), lucrãri de instalaţie, ţevãrie (piping, tubing). (various references) | |
Russian | сантехническая арматура, водопроводное дело (plumbery), прокладка труб (pipelaying). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | vodovodne instalacije. (various references) | |
Spanish | plomería (lead roofing), instalación de cañerías, fontanería, ensamble de guiaondas, circuito del polvo (dust circuit, dust line). (various references) | |
Swedish | rörarbete (plumbery). (various references) | |
Turkish | su tesisatçılığı, su tesisatı, lehimcilik, kurşun işleri, iskandil atma. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | слюсарно-водопровідна справа, водопровід (aqueduct, conduit). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | nghề hàn chì. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "plumbing": plumbings. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "plumbing": replumbing. (additional references) | |
| |
"Plumbing" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: plumbings, pubbing. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "plumbing" (pronounced plu"ming) |
| 4 | -u" m i ng | becoming, coming, drumming, dumbing, forthcoming, humming, numbing, strumming, succumbing, summing, thumbing, unbecoming. |
| 3 | -m i ng | acclaiming, affirming, aiming, alarming, arming, assuming, barnstorming, beaming, blaming, blooming, blossoming, bombing, booming, bottoming, brainstorming, brimming, calming, charming, claiming, climbing, combing, condemning, confirming, conforming, consuming, cramming, damming, damning, daydreaming, deprogramming, diagraming, dimming, disarming, disclaiming, dooming, dreaming, embalming, exclaiming, farming, filming, firebombing, firming, flaming, foaming, forming, framing, fuming, gaming, gleaming, gloaming, grooming, harming, heartwarming, helming, hemming, homecoming, homing, incoming, inflaming, informing, jamming, lambing, lemming, liming, looming, maiming, mainstreaming, misinforming, mushrooming, naming, nonperforming, oncoming, outperforming, overcoming, overwhelming, performing, presuming, priming, proclaiming, programing, programming, ramming, reaffirming, rearming, reclaiming, redeeming, reforming, renaming, reprogramming, resuming, rhyming, roaming, rooming, scheming, screaming, seeming, shaming, shortcoming, skimming, slamming, slimming, squirming, steaming, stemming, storming, streaming, swarming, swimming, taming, teaming, teeming, terming, timing, transforming, trimming, unassuming, upcoming, vacuuming, warming, welcoming, zooming. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-g-i-l-m-n-p-u" | |
-1 letter: bluming, bumping, lumping, pluming. | |
-2 letters: bluing, impugn, lubing, muling, puling, umping. | |
-3 letters: blimp, linum, lungi, lupin, plumb. | |
-4 letters: blin, blip, bump, bung, gimp, glib, glim, glum, gulp, iglu, limb, limn, limp, ling, lump, lung, muni, numb, ping, plug, plum, puli, pung. | |
-5 letters: big, bin, bug, bum, bun, gib, gin, gip, gnu, gul, gum, gun, imp. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-g-i-l-m-n-p-u" | |
+1 letter: plumbings. | |
+2 letters: impugnable, replumbing, upclimbing. | |
+3 letters: subsampling. | |
+5 letters: perambulating. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Sounds 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
