plank
[plangk]
- 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.
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- to lay, cover, or furnish with planks.
- to bake or broil and serve (steak, fish, chicken, etc.) on a wooden board.
- plunk(def 2).
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- walk the plank,
- 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.
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Origin of plank
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for plank
Contemporary Examples
We all jumped from our seats and stood rigid as plank boards.
It has a lovely rustic feel with plank wooden floors and uncovered fireplaces.
The Hell of the Hamptons: Why the Exclusive Hotspot Is a Mind-Numbing DragRobert Gold
August 18, 2014
First Duggan defied him, then Rusev smashed Duggan's plank over his knee.
Perhaps Ham will dedicate a plank in the replica ark to his bowtied benefactor.
Northup slept on a plank 12 inches wide and 10 feet long, with a stick of wood as his pillow.
The ‘12 Years a Slave’ Book Shows Slavery As Even More Appalling Than In the FilmJimmy So
October 18, 2013
Historical Examples
He slipped his arm off the plank and sank in the stream to the chin.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
Then he drew himself upon his plank and swam, doubling his speed.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
He wheeled it up to the side door, an' put a plank over the steps, an' wheeled it right in.
Meadow GrassAlice Brown
A plank is found infected with it, and the whole structure is devoted.
The Uncommercial TravellerCharles Dickens
He states that they pierced a plank, an inch thick, with a bullet made of mercury.
The Field of IceJules Verne
plank1
- a stout length of sawn timber
- something that supports or sustains
- one of the policies in a political party's programme
- walk the plank 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
- British slang a stupid person; idiot
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- to cover or provide (an area) with planks
- to beat (meat) to make it tender
- mainly US and Canadian to cook or serve (meat or fish) on a special wooden board
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Word Origin
C13: from Old Norman French planke, from Late Latin planca board, from plancus flat-footed; probably related to Greek plax flat surface
plank2
- (tr) Scot to hide; cache
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Word Origin
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
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with plank
plank
see walk the plank.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.