plank

/plæŋk/

/plæŋk/

Other forms: planks; planking; planked

A plank is a board or another rectangular piece of wood. When you're building your four-story treehouse, you'll need a lot of planks.

If you've ever watched a movie about pirates, you've heard of "walking the plank," a despicable way to punish captives, forcing them to plunge off the end of a plank (or a "gang plank") into the ocean below. Planks are more commonly used to build houses or hold a fish as it cooks on a grill. Another kind of plank is a political platform, like a candidate's environmental plank, focused on reducing carbon emissions.

Definitions of plank

1. noun

   a stout length of sawn timber; made in a wide variety of sizes and used for many purposes
   synonyms: board

   types:

   matchboard

   a board that has a groove cut into one edge and a tongue cut into the other so they fit tightly together (as in a floor)

   skid

   one of a pair of planks used to make a track for rolling or sliding objects

   strake, wale

   thick plank forming a ridge along the side of a wooden ship

   chipboard, hardboard

   a cheap hard material made from wood chips that are pressed together and bound with synthetic resin

   deal

   a plank of softwood (fir or pine board)

   garboard, garboard plank, garboard strake

   the first wale laid next to the keel of a wooden ship

   gun rest, gunnel, gunwale

   wale at the top of the side of boat; topmost planking of a wooden vessel

   type of:

   lumber, timber

   the wood of trees cut and prepared for use as building material
2. verb

   cover with planks
   “The streets were planked”

   synonyms: plank over

   type of:

   cover

   provide with a covering or cause to be covered
3. verb

   cook and serve on a plank
   “Planked vegetable”

   “Planked shad”

   type of:

   dish, dish out, dish up, serve, serve up

   provide (usually but not necessarily food)
4. verb

   set (something or oneself) down with or as if with a noise
   “He planked the money on the table”

   “He planked himself into the sofa”

   synonyms: flump, plonk, plop, plump, plump down, plunk, plunk down

   type of:

   place down, put down, set down

   cause to sit or seat or be in a settled position or place
5. noun

   an endorsed policy in the platform of a political party
   type of:

   policy

   a line of argument rationalizing the course of action of a government