plait
Americannoun
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a braid, especially of hair or straw.
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a pleat or fold, as of cloth.
verb (used with object)
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to braid, as hair or straw.
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to make, as a mat, by braiding.
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to pleat.
noun
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a length of hair, ribbon, etc, that has been plaited
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(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
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.
For the unaware, that classic acronym comes from the French phrase Répondez s'il vous plait.
From Salon • Nov. 22, 2023
The male representative of this species proudly sports a pork pie straw hat, half Panama and half boater, so obviously transatlantic that every plait in it gives forth a twang.
From Washington Post • May 2, 2023
"That woman with the tightly curled blond plait," you may be thinking to yourself.
From BBC • Feb. 23, 2019
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 straightened from her place on the riverbank, holding her plait of amber hair, much the way Clare held his own tail for comfort.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
