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.
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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
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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
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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
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planksimple
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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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"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:
Already, the key plank of his campaign had been to increase payments to member associations all over the world for development projects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 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
Studios worried about their intellectual property being misused, and actors feared becoming little more than raw material for AI systems -- and made it a central plank of their strike action in 2023.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 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 climb out on the plank and tighten up the ropes some and then there’s nothing to do but wait.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
“What did I get myself into?” he asked, finding kitchen equipment, furniture, clothes, bottles, a family picture, and wooden planks with nails pointing upward coating the floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
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
Wark told AFP that Canada's challenge in the Arctic has two main planks.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
The buildings were placed so closely together, it was easy to leap from rooftop to rooftop or race across rickety planks stretched over alleyways.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
"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
The parents always made sure that there was enough firewood to fuel the stove during the winter months, that the planked floors maintained a glossy shine.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2021
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
This means the site, which includes planking, frames, fixtures and fittings, can be dived on but should remain untouched.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2024
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
The skyward soar of its fir and pine planking makes its setting in the woods feel natural in two senses.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 2, 2021
Just a narrow sandy stretch of shoreline, a few piles sunk in the river with rough planking for a platform.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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.
