plimsoll

• plimsol, plimsole

From Samuel Plimsoll, a Bristol merchant.

• IPA^(key): /ˈplɪmsoʊl/

• Audio (Southern England)

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plimsoll (plural plimsolls)

1. (British) A rubber-soled lace-up canvas shoe for sports or onboard ships; a precursor of trainers.
   • 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 13, in Well Tackled!‎:

     “Yes, there are two distinct sets of footprints, both wearing rubber shoes—one I think ordinary plimsolls, the other goloshes,” replied the sergeant.

   • 2022, Ian McEwan, Lessons, page 8:

     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.

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.

• dap (Britain, regional), pump (Britain, regional)
• sandshoe (Australia)

• Plimsoll line, Plimsoll mark