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View synonyms for plank

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.

plank

1

/ plæŋk /

verb

  1. tr to hide; cache


plank

2

/ 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. walk the plank
    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
  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

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Other Words From

  • plankless adjective
  • planklike adjective
  • un·planked adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of plank1

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

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Word History and Origins

Origin of plank1

C19: a variant of plant

Origin of plank2

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

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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.

More idioms and phrases containing plank

see walk the plank .

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Example Sentences

Lacking any sense of irony, Eldridge made campaign-finance reform a signature plank.

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.

And John McCain actually had a decent-ish health-care platform plank in 2008.

First Duggan defied him, then Rusev smashed Duggan's plank over his knee.

The body was resting upon a plank supported by four stakes and covered with skins.

I like sus-sus-pen-sheen bridges that fly from bank to bank, with one big step, like a gang-plank.

He did not tell the name of his friend, who, as if loath to cross the plank, held back for a few more words.

Use in packing a plank or board, placing it against the front of the tier and bring the ends of the hands up against it.

The plank fell to its horizontal position, bringing her head under the fatal ax.

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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.

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