From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishplaitplait1 /plæt $ pleɪt, plæt/ verb [transitive] British EnglishTIE to twist three long pieces of hair or rope over and under each other to make one long piece SYN braid American English She plaited her hair hurriedly. a plaited leather belt→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
plait• Her hair had been plaited and coiled at the back of her head, but there was no mistaking her for Han.• Her older sisters plaited and decorated her hair, encouraging an already overdeveloped vanity.• I washed and combed and plaited my hair and rubbed my clogs, then I went round and knocked on the door.• Perhaps I would like them to plait my hair?• Some of them had plaited scraps of cloth in their long black hair and all wore beads around their necks.• You will need to plait your horse's mane and pull or plait his tail.plaitplait2 noun [countable] British EnglishDCB a length of something, usually hair, that has been plaited SYN braid American Englishin plaits Jenni wore her hair in plaits.Examples from the Corpus
plait• She chewed at the spiky end of a plait and kicked at a kitchen chair-leg.• A woman with a blond plait was seen getting out of a car with a man near the canal upstream of Sharpness.• She has tied her hair in one drooping plait.• The rope of her orange-grey plait tumbled on to her shoulder.• Melanie started wearing her hair in stiff plaits, in the manner of a squaw.• Lynn had a round face with freckles and brown eyes and she wore her fair hair in a thick plait.• She was about eleven, with long red hair in two plaits.in plaits• Her hair was no longer confined in plaits, but hung down her back to the base of her spine.• She wore her dark hair in plaits about her head.• Sarah had her hair in plaits, and Mouse had his in a ponytail.Origin plait (1400-1500) Old French pleit, from Latin plictus, past participle of plicare “to fold” 