Plank
Plank , noun
[Old English planke, Old French planque, planche, French planche, from Latin planca; compare Greek {not transcribed}, {not transcribed}, anything flat and broad. Compare Planch.]
1.
A broad piece of sawed timber, differing from a board only in being thicker. See Board.
2.
Figuratively: That which supports or upholds, as a board does a swimmer.
His charity is a better plank than the faith of an intolerant and bitter-minded bigot.
3.
One of the separate articles in a declaration of the principles of a party or cause; as, a plank in the national platform. [Cant]
Collocations (2)
Plank road or Plank way , a road surface formed of planks. [United States]
To walk the plank , to walk along a plank laid across the bulwark of a ship, until one overbalances it and falls into the sea; -- a method of disposing of captives practiced by pirates.
Plank , transitive verb
1.
To cover or lay with planks; as, to plank a floor or a ship.
Planked with pine.
2.
To lay down, as on a plank or table; to stake or pay cash; as, to plank money in a wager. [Colloquial United States]
3.
To harden, as hat bodies, by felting.
4.
(Wooden Manufacturing) To splice together the ends of slivers of wool, for subsequent drawing.
Collocations (1)
Planked shad , shad split open, fastened to a plank, and roasted before a wood fire.