plait
Americannoun
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a braid, especially of hair or straw.
-
a pleat or fold, as of cloth.
verb (used with object)
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to braid, as hair or straw.
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to make, as a mat, by braiding.
-
to pleat.
noun
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a length of hair, ribbon, etc, that has been plaited
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(in Britain) a loaf of bread of several twisting or intertwining parts
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a rare spelling of pleat
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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plaitsimple
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plaitssimple
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have plaitedperfect
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has plaitedperfect
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am plaitingprogressive
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are plaitingprogressive
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is plaitingprogressive
-
have been plaitingperfect progressive
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has been plaitingperfect progressive
Past
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plaitedsimple
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had plaitedperfect
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was plaitingprogressive
-
were plaitingprogressive
-
had been plaitingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of plait
1350–1400; Middle English pleyt < Middle French pleit < Latin plicitum, neuter of plicitus, past participle of plicāre to fold; see ply 2
Explanation
You might get an odd look if you ask your hairdresser to put your hair in a plait, but she’ll eventually figure out what you want: a braid. Plait, which sounds the same as plate, feels a bit like it’s from a bygone era, though the word is still in use today. A woman wearing a hairstyle with plaits might be on her way to meet Lord Something-or-Other, in the hopes of receiving a marriage proposal. Meanwhile, someone wearing a braided hairdo might be preparing for a night on the town or just a trip to the grocery store.
Vocabulary lists containing plait
Shear Genius: Hairy Vocabulary
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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One Crazy Summer
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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:
For the unaware, that classic acronym comes from the French phrase Répondez s'il vous plait.
From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2023
The male representative of this species proudly sports a pork pie straw hat, half Panama and half boater, so obviously transatlantic that every plait in it gives forth a twang.
From Washington Post ● May 2, 2023
Assembling a loaf of challah, the briochelike Jewish bread coated with a soft brown egg wash and braided in a classic plait, is another undertaking entirely.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2021
The moment finally came after riding hard and alone for 80 breathless kilometres, her French plait swinging in the cold autumnal breeze.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2021
Then she had braided her hair, using her hands to interweave the thick dark strands deftly, tying the end of the heavy plait with a leather strip.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
Bell is living up to the potential that she promised as a tall, ambitious teenager, boasting those trademark plaits and an infectious love of the game.
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2024
Education Minister Nyan Gadsby Dolly called for new rules that would allow students to wear Afros, locks, twists, plaits and cornrows, which are called canerows in the Caribbean in reference to sugarcane.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2023
Her mother then plaits her thick hair into two Dutch braids that fit under her helmet for the show ring.
From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2023
And at least two of the witnesses testified that one of the shooters had shoulder length locs or plaits, a hairstyle that McDaniel has but neither Moses nor Mayfield had, according to court testimony.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2022
She was tall and graceful with long hair the color of chocolate, braided in plaits with gold ribbons.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
Elsewhere in Haute Couture Week, Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny sat front row for the Schiaparelli show in a pastel yellow-coloured suit and a tie of plaited golden strands.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
The young millennial rocked different hairstyles and loved switching it up: a curly Afro one week, two-strand twists the next, micro plaited braids and a range of cornrow designs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2024
This week, the bakers are instructed to make a plaited bread centerpiece.
From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2023
She’s a brainy brunette wallflower, a fraying nerve barely held together by tightly plaited milkmaid braids.
From New York Times ● Nov. 15, 2022
It felt strange, because Mama had always plaited my hair.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
It takes a willingness to understand and honor the hairstyle's origins and what that plaiting symbolizes to accept that not everybody should flaunt it.
From Salon ● May 2, 2025
With those scraps, she made a handful of purses and small pouches using techniques including plaiting, macramé and sashiko, a form of Japanese embroidery.
From New York Times ● Dec. 19, 2022
“It is less risky if we go as a group,” she said while plaiting her friend’s hair.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2022
John Frieda Frizz Ease Clearly Defined Gel was Aspiras' go-to while plaiting the two side braids, which he secured with clear elastics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2018
Like the bulrush shoots, shame and fear could be woven into a plaiting of surprising strength.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
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.
