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
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
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
The ogre put the dog collar down on a pile of dog collars and began to plait another.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
Bell is living up to the potential that she promised as a tall, ambitious teenager, boasting those trademark plaits and an infectious love of the game.
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 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
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
Lyddie pulled at her own straggly brown plaits, grateful when attention shifted and the room was once again filled with chattering.
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
"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
This week, the bakers are instructed to make a plaited bread centerpiece.
From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2023
Her dark hair was plaited into many braids that were gathered and woven into a knot high on her head.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
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
Like the bulrush shoots, shame and fear could be woven into a plaiting of surprising strength.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
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.
