Plank

How to spell plank

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce plank

What does plank mean?

1. nounA long, flat, narrow piece of sawn timber, thicker than a board.
2. nounA core-strengthening exercise in which the body is held straight and rigid, supported on the forearms and toes.
3. nounA single stated principle or aim forming part of a political party's wider programme.

Plank in a sentence

• The builders laid a thick plank across the muddy trench.

• The trainer told her to hold a plank for a full minute.

• Lower taxes became the central plank of their campaign.

• One loose plank in the old deck creaked under every step.

• A daily plank strengthens the abdominal muscles without any equipment.

• Every plank in the manifesto was costed by the party's economists.

Where does plank come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English in the 1200s from Old North French planke, a regional variant of Old French planche meaning a board or slab of wood. The ultimate source is the Late Latin planca, a 'board' or 'plank', which was related to the Latin adjective plancus meaning 'flat' or 'flat-footed'. The sense stayed concrete and physical: a flat length of sawn timber, the kind used to floor a ship or bridge a gap. From the literal board grew several figurative uses, including the pirate threat of being made to 'walk the plank' and, from American political life in the 1800s, the idea of a single 'plank' as one stated principle in a party's wider 'platform'. The spelling is mercifully phonetic; the only thing to keep in mind is the silent-feeling but clearly pronounced final cluster -nk.

How the word is built

• plank (single root: a long flat board of timber)