plumbing

/pləmɪŋ/

/ˈplʌmɪŋ/

Other forms: plumbings

Indoor plumbing is what makes civilization great. Plumbing refers to the pipes that get the water in and the sewage out. If a snake shows up in the toilet, it probably came in through the plumbing. Yikes!

You can use the noun plumbing whether you're talking about the bathroom sink, the pipes connected to your dishwasher, or the bathtub drain. A home's heating system often consists of plumbing too. The work of fixing or installing this type of system is also plumbing. The word's earliest meaning was "the weighting of a fishing line," from plumb, originally "to sink like lead," which has the Latin root plumba, or "lead."

Definitions of plumbing

1. noun

   utility consisting of the pipes and fixtures for the distribution of water or gas in a building and for the disposal of sewage
   synonyms: plumbing system

   type of:

   utility

   a facility composed of one or more pieces of equipment connected to or part of a structure and designed to provide a service such as heat or electricity or water or sewage disposal
2. noun

   the occupation of a plumber (installing and repairing pipes and fixtures for water or gas or sewage in a building)
   synonyms: plumbery

   type of:

   craft, trade

   the skilled practice of a practical occupation
3. noun

   measuring the depths of the oceans
   synonyms: bathymetry

   type of:

   measure, measurement, measuring, mensuration

   the act or process of assigning numbers to phenomena according to a rule