Adjacent Words

Plimsoll definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: waterlines to show the level the water should reach when the ship is properly loaded [syn: load line, Plimsoll line, Plimsoll mark, Plimsoll]
2: a light gym shoe with a rubber sole and a canvas top

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: probably from the supposed resemblance of the upper edge of the shoe's mudguard to the Plimsoll mark on a ship Date: 1907 British sneaker 2

Britannica Concise

British reformer. A London coal merchant, he served in Parliament 1868-80. With his book Our Seamen (1873), he helped overcome resistance to the Merchant Shipping Act, which instituted such reforms as the loading limit for cargo ships. A load line (the Plimsoll mark or line) was marked on the hull of every cargo ship, indicating the maximum depth to which the ship could be safely loaded.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (also plimsole) Brit. a rubber-soled canvas sports shoe. Etymology: prob. from the resemblance of the side of the sole to a PLIMSOLL LINE

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(plimsolls) Plimsolls are canvas shoes with flat rubber soles. People wear plimsolls for sports and leisure activities. (BRIT; in AM, use sneakers) N-COUNT: usu pl