Plank (?), n. [OE. planke, OF. planque, planche, F. planche, fr. L. planca; cf. Gr. �, �, 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.
Plank road, orPlank way, a road surface formed of planks. — 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.