plank
[ plangk ]
/ plæŋk /
noun
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)
Nearby words
planimetry, planing, planing hull, planish, planisphere, plank, plank floor, plank-sheer, planking, plankter, planktology
Idioms
- to be forced, as by pirates, to walk to one's death by stepping off a plank extending from the ship's side over the water.
- to relinquish something, as a position, office, etc., under compulsion: We suspect that the new vice-president walked the plank because of a personality clash.
walk the plank,
Origin of plank
Related formsplank·less, adjectiveplank·like, adjectiveun·planked, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for plank
British Dictionary definitions for plank (1 of 2)
plank
1/ (plæŋk) /
noun
verb (tr)
Word Origin for plank
C13: from Old Norman French planke, from Late Latin planca board, from plancus flat-footed; probably related to Greek plax flat surface
British Dictionary definitions for plank (2 of 2)
plank
2/ (plæŋk) /
verb
(tr) Scot to hide; cache
Word Origin for plank
C19: a variant of plant
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for plank
plank
late 13c. (c.1200 as a surname), from Old North French planke, variant of Old French planche "plank, slab, little wooden bridge" (12c.), from Late Latin planca "broad slab, board," probably from Latin plancus "flat, flat-footed," from PIE *plak- (1) "to be flat" (see placenta). Technically, timber sawed to measure 2 to 6 inches thick, 9 inches or more wide, and 8 feet or more long. Political sense of "item of a party platform" is U.S. coinage from 1848. To walk the plank, supposedly a pirate punishment, is first attested 1789 and most early references are to slave-traders disposing of excess human cargo in crossing the ocean.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with plank
plank
see walk the plank.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.