Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

plank

Syllabification: (plank)
Pronunciation: /plaNGk/
Translate plank | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of plank

noun

  • 1a long, thin, flat piece of timber, used especially in building and flooring.
  • 2a fundamental point of a political or other program:the central plank of the bill is the curb on industrial polluters
  • 3a physical exercise designed to strengthen the abdominal muscles, in which one performs a press-up and holds the raised position for a set period of time: the session usually include a lot of core work, lunges, planks, and squats

verb

[with object]
  • 1make, provide, or cover with planks:the ship was planked with teak (as adjective planked)the planked floor

Phrases

walk the plank

(formerly) be forced by pirates to walk blindfold along a plank over the side of a ship to one’s death in the sea.
informal lose one’s job or position.

Origin:

Middle English: from Old Northern French planke, from late Latin planca 'board', feminine (used as a noun) of plancus 'flatfooted'

plank in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of plank in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More words in this category

Word of the day

offing

/ ˈôfiNG /
noun
the more distant part of the sea in view …