plait
Americannoun
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plaits
plural
-
a braid, especially of hair or straw.
-
a pleat or fold, as of cloth.
verb (used with object)
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plaits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
plaited,
past participle, past
-
plaiting
present participle
-
to braid, as hair or straw.
-
to make, as a mat, by braiding.
-
to pleat.
noun
-
a length of hair, ribbon, etc, that has been plaited
-
(in Britain) a loaf of bread of several twisting or intertwining parts
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a rare spelling of pleat
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
plaitsimple
-
plaitssimple
-
have plaitedperfect
-
has plaitedperfect
-
am plaitingprogressive
-
are plaitingprogressive
-
is plaitingprogressive
-
have been plaitingperfect progressive
-
has been plaitingperfect progressive
Past
-
plaitedsimple
-
had plaitedperfect
-
was plaitingprogressive
-
were plaitingprogressive
-
had been plaitingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of plait
1350–1400; Middle English pleyt < Middle French pleit < Latin plicitum, neuter of plicitus, past participle of plicāre to fold; see ply 2
Explanation
You might get an odd look if you ask your hairdresser to put your hair in a plait, but she’ll eventually figure out what you want: a braid. Plait, which sounds the same as plate, feels a bit like it’s from a bygone era, though the word is still in use today. A woman wearing a hairstyle with plaits might be on her way to meet Lord Something-or-Other, in the hopes of receiving a marriage proposal. Meanwhile, someone wearing a braided hairdo might be preparing for a night on the town or just a trip to the grocery store.
Vocabulary lists containing plait
Shear Genius: Hairy Vocabulary
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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One Crazy Summer
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For the unaware, that classic acronym comes from the French phrase Répondez s'il vous plait.
From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2023
The moment finally came after riding hard and alone for 80 breathless kilometres, her French plait swinging in the cold autumnal breeze.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2021
Sisters from El Salvador plait one another’s hair; men from Cameroon await an asylum hearing on the far side.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 12, 2019
She stood about four and a half feet tall and liked to keep her hair shoulder length, in a plait, her grandfather said.
From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2019
Her gray hair was wrapped in a great plait at the base of her neck.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
"My mam plaits it in two plaits so it goes directly between my spine... She has always plaited my hair since so it's kind of a tradition now."
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2024
Education Minister Nyan Gadsby Dolly called for new rules that would allow students to wear Afros, locks, twists, plaits and cornrows, which are called canerows in the Caribbean in reference to sugarcane.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2023
Her mother then plaits her thick hair into two Dutch braids that fit under her helmet for the show ring.
From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2023
We don't bother with complicated eight-strand plaits or intricate rounds, and instead opt for a classic three-strand braid.
From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2022
“Well, I’ll see how it goes, ey?” she said, tossing her thin plaits behind her shoulders.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
Elsewhere in Haute Couture Week, Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny sat front row for the Schiaparelli show in a pastel yellow-coloured suit and a tie of plaited golden strands.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
The young millennial rocked different hairstyles and loved switching it up: a curly Afro one week, two-strand twists the next, micro plaited braids and a range of cornrow designs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2024
This week, the bakers are instructed to make a plaited bread centerpiece.
From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2023
Known for her amusing scripts and plaited hairstyles, Jocelyn Bioh can count only three times when she was without braids.
From New York Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
Olanna touched her hair, newly plaited with black thread.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
It takes a willingness to understand and honor the hairstyle's origins and what that plaiting symbolizes to accept that not everybody should flaunt it.
From Salon ● May 2, 2025
“It is less risky if we go as a group,” she said while plaiting her friend’s hair.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2022
What I suddenly think of is my dad plaiting my hair when I was nine years old, in the first few weeks after my mum left.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 28, 2019
John Frieda Frizz Ease Clearly Defined Gel was Aspiras' go-to while plaiting the two side braids, which he secured with clear elastics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2018
Beneath him, Loki saw a huge grave mound, and sitting on it, plaiting a dog collar, was the hugest, ugliest ogre of a giant he had ever seen.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
