planking
[plang-king]
Origin of planking
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 planking
Contemporary Examples
Dwight Hates Planking Last summer “planking” was all the rage.
Similar to planking, Eastwooding is when you angrily and accusatorially point at an empty chair.
RH: The planking system drains into the plantings so only about 20 percent of the rainwater will go into the sewer system.
Historical Examples
And he leaned his head in a baffled, tired way against the planking of the mill.
The UnderdogF. Hopkinson Smith
The wan light of early day came through the cracks in the planking.
A Nest of SpiesPierre Souvestre
"The rest of the planking's sure to be gone by this time," continues the cavalier.
Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2)William Delisle Hay
These had been thrown into the breach and planking nailed on over them.
A Labrador DoctorWilfred Thomason Grenfell
Tommy struck three times on the planking of the dock with his open hand.
The Call of the Beaver PatrolV. T. Sherman
planking
- a number of planks
- the act of covering or furnishing with planks
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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 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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with planking
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.