plait
Americannoun
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plaits
plural
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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
Assembling a loaf of challah, the briochelike Jewish bread coated with a soft brown egg wash and braided in a classic plait, is another undertaking entirely.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2021
"That woman with the tightly curled blond plait," you may be thinking to yourself.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2019
I will, however, send a JRPMP: Je réponds parce-qu’il ME plait — “because it pleases me.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2017
At night, when she took off her bun, she allowed her grandchildren to plait her remaining hair into a tight, oiled, gray rat’s tail with a rubber band at the end.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
“When I was going to school, I wanted to be Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, and I would wear a wig with two plaits and call myself Professor Longhair,” Henry told the AP.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
Patricie: No, we have carefully planned the plaits not to be longer than our ankles.
From BBC ● May 11, 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
And at least two of the witnesses testified that one of the shooters had shoulder length locs or plaits, a hairstyle that McDaniel has but neither Moses nor Mayfield had, according to court testimony.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2022
She came over to me, pinched the ends of a few of my plaits, then patted my edges as if she was touching up my baby hair.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
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
A tad dramatic perhaps but to be fair, Woodburn's plaited, platinum bun was iconic.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2025
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
Mama had plaited it in the hospital, but because of my raging headaches, she did not make the braids tight.
From "Purple Hibiscus" 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
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
In the Beginning Was the End looks at scientific invention, at hydraulics and new technology in characteristic dreamthinkspeak style, plaiting together old and new procedures, the virtual and the fleshy, the large-scale and the miniature.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 10, 2013
She would keep off plaiting it until next week.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
