plank
Americannoun
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planks
plural
-
a long, flat piece of timber, thicker than a board.
-
lumber in such pieces; planking.
-
something to stand on or to cling to for support.
-
any one of the stated principles or objectives comprising the political platform of a party campaigning for election.
They fought for a plank supporting a nuclear freeze.
verb (used with object)
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planks,
present (3rd person singular)
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planked,
past participle, past
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planking
present participle
-
to lay, cover, or furnish with planks.
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to bake or broil and serve (steak, fish, chicken, etc.) on a wooden board.
idioms
noun
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a stout length of sawn timber
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something that supports or sustains
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one of the policies in a political party's programme
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to be forced by pirates to walk to one's death off the end of a plank jutting out over the water from the side of a ship
-
slang a stupid person; idiot
verb
-
to cover or provide (an area) with planks
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to beat (meat) to make it tender
-
to cook or serve (meat or fish) on a special wooden board
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
planksimple
-
plankssimple
-
have plankedperfect
-
has plankedperfect
-
am plankingprogressive
-
are plankingprogressive
-
is plankingprogressive
-
have been plankingperfect progressive
-
has been plankingperfect progressive
Past
-
plankedsimple
-
had plankedperfect
-
was plankingprogressive
-
were plankingprogressive
-
had been plankingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of plank
1275–1325; Middle English planke < Old North French < Latin planca board, plank. See planch
Explanation
A plank is a board or another rectangular piece of wood. When you're building your four-story treehouse, you'll need a lot of planks. If you've ever watched a movie about pirates, you've heard of "walking the plank," a despicable way to punish captives, forcing them to plunge off the end of a plank (or a "gang plank") into the ocean below. Planks are more commonly used to build houses or hold a fish as it cooks on a grill. Another kind of plank is a political platform, like a candidate's environmental plank, focused on reducing carbon emissions.
Vocabulary lists containing plank
Words Every Pirate Should Know
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Speech and Debate
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"The Mixer" by P.G. Wodehouse
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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:
Though Alicia emerged victorious, Christiane held a plank for over three minutes, arms trembling and gritting her teeth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
In addition to the barre work, we did a plank series, light push-ups and arm work, as well as glutes and core work on the mat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
"I managed to find a wooden plank, which I clung to for two days and one night," Begum said, noting she eventually caught the attention of a passing rescue ship.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
The man eventually used a wooden plank to guide the bear out of the truck, allowing both to walk away unharmed.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
I found myself in a cavernous, dusty room with a plank floor and high, exposed rafters.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Hewing is the ancient art of cutting logs into beams or planks for timber frames.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
We performed classic moves: squats, crunches, high and low planks and bird dogs, among them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
That’s why I focus on the basics—hip mobility, planks, squats or dead lifts, rows, shoulder work and rotational drills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
For the Tanglewood strategist, though, most of the planks in the investment rationale remain intact.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 27, 2026
Aunt Goldie dropped her ice-cream spoon onto the porch planks.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
"Bee" is one of the very few remaining Stroma yoles – a small open-decked boat with a planked hull - that once served the now abandoned island off the northern mainland.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2025
I planked on the lake shore and did box jumps onto the deck steps.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2022
I’ve never planked or lunged, to my knowledge.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 16, 2018
He brought us to a neighboring building and led us through a long, sepia-hued chamber with deep empty wood vessels on either side of a narrow planked floor.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2018
In coffins for the not dead and not alive, in planked boxes, the metronomes waited to be set in motion.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
But wall squats and planking led to larger falls than aerobic exercise.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2023
What they brought was a piece of brick that was likely part of the ship’s steam boiler, and planking from its hull.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 25, 2022
“It’s a meme,” he explains, like planking or owling.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2022
Suffice to say, you won't catch Charles Barkley planking anytime soon, but it's clear his true vendetta lies with vegetables, the insidious little tubulars that infiltrate our bodies minds with without us even knowing it.
From Golf Digest ● Feb. 3, 2020
Then he emerged carrying a sawn section of tongue-and-groove planking and laid it down and entered the closet again and emerged with a metal box.
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
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.
