Dictionary.com
definitions

planking

[plang-king]
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR planking ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

planks collectively, as in a floor.
the act of laying or covering with planks.

Origin of planking

First recorded in 1485–95; plank + -ing1

plank

[plangk]

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)

to lay, cover, or furnish with planks.
to bake or broil and serve (steak, fish, chicken, etc.) on a wooden board.
plunk(def 2).

Origin of plank

1275–1325; Middle English planke < Old North French < Latin planca board, plank. See planch
Related formsplank·less, adjectiveplank·like, adjectiveun·planked, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for planking

found, install, insert, set, invest, focus, bring, settle, place, lay, establish, stick, locate, head, prepare, fix, introduce, turn, put, apply

Examples from the Web for planking

Contemporary Examples of planking

Historical Examples of planking

  • And he leaned his head in a baffled, tired way against the planking of the mill.

    The Underdog

    F. Hopkinson Smith

  • The wan light of early day came through the cracks in the planking.

    A Nest of Spies

    Pierre Souvestre

  • "The rest of the planking's sure to be gone by this time," continues the cavalier.

  • These had been thrown into the breach and planking nailed on over them.

    A Labrador Doctor

    Wilfred Thomason Grenfell

  • Tommy struck three times on the planking of the dock with his open hand.

British Dictionary definitions for planking

planking

noun

a number of planks
the act of covering or furnishing with planks

plank

1

noun

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

verb (tr)

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

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

plank

2

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 planking

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with planking

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.