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Webster 1913 Edition

Plank

Plank

,
Noun.
[OE.
planke
, OF.
planque
,
planche
, F.
planche
, fr. L.
planca
; cf. Gr. [GREEK], [GREEK], anything flat and broad. Cf.
Planch
.]
1.
A broad piece of sawed timber, differing from a board only in being thicker. See
Board
.
2.
Fig.: 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.
Southey.
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]
Plank road
, or
Plank way
,
a road surface formed of planks.
[U.S.]
–
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

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Planked
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Planking
.]
1.
To cover or lay with planks;
as, to
plank
a floor or a ship
.
“Planked with pine.”
Dryden.
2.
To lay down, as on a plank or table; to stake or pay cash;
as, to
plank
money in a wager
.
[Colloq. U.S.]
3.
To harden, as hat bodies, by felting.
4.
(Wooden Manuf.)
To splice together the ends of slivers of wool, for subsequent drawing.
Planked shad
,
shad split open, fastened to a plank, and roasted before a wood fire.

Webster 1828 Edition

Plank

PLANK

,
Noun.
A broad piece of sawed timber, differing from a board only in being thicker. In America, broad pieces of sawed timber which are not more than an inch or an inch and a quarter thick, are called boards; like pieces from an inch and a half to three or four inches thick, are called planks. Sometimes pieces more than four inches thick are called planks.

PLANK

,
Verb.
T.
To cover or lay with planks; as, to plank a floor or a ship.

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