plank

[plangk]

noun

1. a long, flat piece of timber, thicker than a board.

2. lumber in such pieces; planking.

3. something to stand on or to cling to for support.

4. 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)

1. to lay, cover, or furnish with planks.

2. to bake or broil and serve (steak, fish, chicken, etc.) on a wooden board.

3. plunk.

plank

¹

/ plæŋk /

noun

1. a stout length of sawn timber

2. something that supports or sustains

3. one of the policies in a political party's programme

4. 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

5. slang,  a stupid person; idiot

verb

1. to cover or provide (an area) with planks

2. to beat (meat) to make it tender

3. to cook or serve (meat or fish) on a special wooden board

plank

²

/ plæŋk /

verb

1. (tr) to hide; cache

Other Word Forms

• plankless adjective
• planklike adjective
• unplanked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of plank¹

1275–1325; Middle English planke < Old North French < Latin planca board, plank. See planch

Word History and Origins

Origin of plank¹

C13: from Old Norman French planke, from Late Latin planca board, from plancus flat-footed; probably related to Greek plax flat surface

Origin of plank²

C19: a variant of plant

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. walk the plank,

   1. 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.

   2. 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.

see walk the plank.

Example Sentences

One athlete might think it’s fun to wake up with a cold plunge, a half-hour plank and 1000 free throws at 4 a.m.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“Is your pride that strong that you cannot see the plank in your own eye?”

Read more on Literature

“Or perhaps they will make me walk the plank, as pirates do. Dear me, I ought to have learned to swim when I had the chance!”

Read more on Literature

Also of great interest was the cushioning layer of brushwood found between thin planks of the sunken ship’s hull.

Read more on Literature

"When my friends and I got closer, it turned out to be a woman clinging to two planks," an animated Azham said, recalling the Saturday rescue.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• lumber 
• platform 
• slab 
• timber