Pluming her wings among the breezy bowers. --W.
Irving.
2. To strip of feathers; to pluck; to strip; to pillage;
also, to peel. [Obs.] --Bacon. Dryden.
3. To adorn with feathers or plumes. ``Farewell the plumed
troop.'' --Shak.
4. To pride; to vaunt; to boast; -- used reflexively; as, he
plumes himself on his skill. --South.
{Plumed adder} (Zo["o]l.), an African viper ({Vipera, or
Clotho cornuta}), having a plumelike structure over each
eye. It is venomous, and is related to the African puff
adder. Called also {horned viper} and {hornsman}.
{Plumed partridge} (Zo["o]l.), the California mountain quail
({Oreortyx pictus}). See {Mountain quail}, under
{Mountain}.
Wings . . . of many a colored plume. --Milton.
2. (Zo["o]l.) An ornamental tuft of feathers.
3. A feather, or group of feathers, worn as an ornament; a
waving ornament of hair, or other material resembling
feathers.
His high plume, that nodded o'er his head. --Dryden.
4. A token of honor or prowess; that on which one prides
himself; a prize or reward. ``Ambitious to win from me
some plume.'' --Milton.
5. (Bot.) A large and flexible panicle of inflorescence
resembling a feather, such as is seen in certain large
ornamental grasses.
{Plume bird} (Zo["o]l.), any bird that yields ornamental
plumes, especially the species of Epimarchus from New
Guinea, and some of the herons and egrets, as the white
heron of Florida ({Ardea candidissima}).
{Plume grass}. (Bot)
(a) A kind of grass ({Erianthus saccharoides}) with the
spikelets arranged in great silky plumes, growing in
swamps in the Southern United States.
(b) The still finer {E. Ravenn[ae]} from the Mediterranean
region. The name is sometimes extended to the whole
genus.
{Plume moth} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous small, slender
moths, belonging to the family {Pterophorid[ae]}. Most of
them have the wings deeply divided into two or more
plumelike lobes. Some species are injurious to the
grapevine.
{Plume nutmeg} (Bot.), an aromatic Australian tree
({Atherosperma moschata}), whose numerous carpels are
tipped with long plumose persistent styles.