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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

plank.

A long, broad and thick piece of timber, as opposed to a board which is less thick.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈplæŋk/Received-Pronunciation[ˈpʰlæŋk]Received-Pronunciation/ˈplaŋk/British, Southern, Standard[ˈpʰlaŋk]British, Southern, Standard
  1. A long, broad and thick piece of timber, as opposed to a board which is less thick. A flat piece of wood on which to cook fish, so that the wood provides flavor and helps to produce a pleasing texture.

    A dish called "plank salmon" likely includes a salmon filet cooked on a plank.
  2. A long, broad and thick piece of timber, as opposed to a board which is less thick. An object made of planks; planking.

  3. A long, broad and thick piece of timber, as opposed to a board which is less thick. A solid and substantial portion of an ingredient with a flat side, cooked and served whole.

    That dish is served with a plank of cauliflower.
  4. A long, broad and thick piece of timber, as opposed to a board which is less thick. Physical exercise in which one holds a position (usually with a flat back, like a plank) for a measured length of time.

  5. A long, broad and thick piece of timber, as opposed to a board which is less thick. 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.

    figuratively
    Germanization was a central plank of German conservative thinking in the 19th and 20th centuries.
  6. A stupid person, idiot.

    UK · slang
  7. That which supports or upholds.

Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ˈplæŋk/Received-Pronunciation[ˈpʰlæŋk]Received-Pronunciation/ˈplaŋk/British, Southern, Standard[ˈpʰlaŋk]British, Southern, Standard
  1. To cover something with planking.

    transitive
    to plank a floor or a ship
  2. To bake (fish, etc.) on a piece of cedar lumber.

    transitive
  3. To lay down, as on a plank or table; to stake or pay cash.

    colloquial · transitive
    to plank money in a wager
  4. To harden, as hat bodies, by felting.

    transitive
  5. To splice together the ends of slivers of wool, for subsequent drawing.

  6. To pose for a photograph while lying rigid, face down, arms at side, in an unusual place.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.