Plume n.
 1. A feather; esp., a soft, downy feather, or a long, conspicuous, or handsome feather.
    Wings . . . of many a colored plume.   --Milton.
 2. Zool. 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.”
 5. Bot. A large and flexible panicle of inflorescence resembling a feather, such as is seen in certain large ornamental grasses.
 Plume bird Zool., 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 Erianthus Ravennæ from the Mediterranean region. The name is sometimes extended to the whole genus.
 Plume moth Zool., any one of numerous small, slender moths, belonging to the family Pterophoridæ. 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.
 Snow·y a.
 1. White like snow. “So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows.”
 2. Abounding with snow; covered with snow. “The snowy top of cold Olympus.”
 3. Fig.: Pure; unblemished; unstained; spotless.
    There did he lose his snowy innocence.   --J. Hall (1646).
 Snowy heron Zool., a white heron, or egret (Ardea candidissima), found in the Southern United States, and southward to Chile; -- called also plume bird.
 Snowy lemming Zool., the collared lemming (Cuniculus torquatus), which turns white in winter.
 Snowy owl Zool., a large arctic owl (Nyctea Scandiaca, or Nyctea nivea) common all over the northern parts of the United States and Europe in winter time.  Its plumage is sometimes nearly pure white, but it is usually more or less marked with blackish spots.  Called also white owl.
 Snowy plover Zool., a small plover (Aegialitis nivosa) of the western parts of the United States and Mexico. It is light gray above, with the under parts and portions of the head white.
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