plank
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English plank, planke, borrowed from Old French planke, Old Northern French planque (compare French planche, from Old French planche), from Vulgar Latin planca, from palanca, from Latin phalanga. The Latin term derives from the Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx), so it is thus a doublet of phalange and phalanx. Compare also the doublets planch, planche, and plancha, borrowed later from Middle French, Modern French, and Spanish, respectively.
Inflected forms:
form: planks
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: planks
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: planking
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: planked
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: planked
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A long, broad and thick piece of timber, as opposed to a board which is less thick.
pos: noun
gloss: A political issue that is of concern to a faction or a party of the people and the political position that is taken on that issue.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
examples: Germanization was a central plank of German conservative thinking in the 19th and 20th centuries.
When Mr. Dole had been asked at the Republican convention about the same immigration amendment—one of the more conservative and sensitive planks—he did not oppose it, but said he would have to think long and hard before supporting it.
In the 1970s, a group of ideologically inspired economists captured the ears and minds of politicians. The central plank of their ‘neo-liberal’ model was that growth and development depended on market competitiveness; […]
The party, whose official name (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) translates as Alliance '90/The Greens, grew out of an assortment of social protest movements of the 1980s that eventually unified. Their supporters marched for everything from ending nuclear power to enacting gay rights — while maintaining the key plank of environmental protection.
gloss: Physical exercise in which one holds a pushup position for a measured length of time.
pos: noun
gloss: A stupid person, idiot.
pos: noun
tags: UK
slang
gloss: That which supports or upholds.
pos: noun
examples: His charity is a better plank than the faith of an intolerant and bitter-minded bigot.
gloss: To cover something with planking.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: to plank a floor or a ship
Plank'd with pine.
gloss: To bake (fish, etc.) on a piece of cedar lumber.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Along the lower river, planked shad dinners (baked and broiled) were highly popular during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
gloss: To lay down, as on a plank or table; to stake or pay cash.
pos: verb
tags: colloquial
transitive
examples: to plank money in a wager
Joe planked the money down in the officer of a newspaper editor and awaited results. There weren't any.
gloss: To harden, as hat bodies, by felting.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To splice together the ends of slivers of wool, for subsequent drawing.
pos: verb
gloss: To pose for a photograph while lying rigid, face down, arms at side, in an unusual place.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The woman, known as Claudia, fell from a 2m wall after earlier demonstrating the wrong way to plank on a small stool while holding a bottle of wine. A friend said some guests had not heard of planking and Claudia was demonstrating how ridiculous it was.
Perth man Simon Carville became an internet sensation after he was photographed planking naked in the arms of famous Perth statue the Eliza.
Related words: planche
Derived words: Copenhagen plank
gangplank
gang plank
gang-plank
hub plank
plankage
plank bed
plankboard
plank down
planker
plank house
plankless
planklike
plank road
plank root
plank-sheer
plank spanker
plank up
plankway
plankwise
planky
replank
side plank
spike plank
stage plank
stop plank
thick as a plank
toe the plank
two-forty on a plank road
unplank
walk the plank
Translations: