From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishplankplank /plæŋk/ noun [countable] 1 TBCa long narrow piece of wooden board, used especially for making structures to walk on a long plank of wood a bridge made of planks2 IDEAone of the main features or principles of an argument etc → platformplank of an argument/policy/campaign etc the main plank of their argument a central plank of our policy a five-plank campaign including raising the minimum wage → walk the plank at walk1(13), → as thick as two short planks at thick1(7)
Examples from the Corpus
plank• Dole and Kemp both oppose abortion, and the new Republican platform retains a strong anti-abortion plank.• The Kansas senator indicated a willingness to make minor changes in the anti-abortion plank in the Republican platform.• Even so, much activity can be encouraged with improvised equipment such as planks, boxes, tyres and barrels.• Cracking down on illegal immigration was one of the state Republicans' major campaign planks.• Another central plank in this revisionist argument was that there was no such thing as the popular will.• Thus far, only two relatively minor planks of the 10-point House-initiated legislative agenda have become law.• That plank also opposes the use of public funds for abortion and organizations that advocate abortion.• Four fingers were thrust, gripping, through a gap between the planks of the door.• Facing him across the bleached wooden plank, Melissa became aware of an extraordinary change in his manner.plank of wood• Or a plank of wood on polystyrene block?• I took with me, against my parents' will, a treasured possession: a plank of wood.• No handy planks of wood, no convenient lengths of baler twine kindly left behind by a farmer.• The sixth one was called caterpillar it was two long planks of wood with poles coming out of it.• Inside was a field of mud, planks of wood thrown about.• The second task was to stand on some planks of wood which had been set out in a hexagon.• You can often find a colony by looking under large flat stones, planks of wood or rubble lying on the soil.• It looked like a condemned storefront, planks of wood everywhere, but through the corrugated tin door was a party.plank of an argument/policy/campaign etc• The main plank of a campaign he hopes will overturn the Conservative's slender 1,400 majority in the seat.Origin plank (1200-1300) Old North French planke, from Latin planca, from plancus “flat” 