plain as a pikestaff

Related to plain as a pikestaff: plain as day

(as) plain as a pikestaff

Very obvious or noticeable; very easy to understand. It's plain as a pikestaff that they like each other— they've been flirting all night! In the end, the solution was as plain as a pikestaff.
See also: pikestaff, plain
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

plain as a pikestaff

1 very obvious. 2 ordinary or unattractive in appearance.
This phrase is an alteration of plain as a packstaff , which dates from the mid 16th century, the staff being that of a pedlar, on which he rested his pack of goods for sale. The version with pikestaff had developed by the end of the 16th century
See also: pikestaff, plain
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

(as) plain as a ˈpikestaff

,

(as) plain as ˈday

,

(as) plain as the nose on your ˈface

(informal) easy to see or understand; obvious: It’s as plain as a pikestaff; this government is ruining the economy. You can’t miss the sign, it’s right there, as plain as the nose on your face.
See also: pikestaff, plain
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • (as) plain as a pikestaff
  • pikestaff
  • (as) plain as the nose on (one's) face
  • be as plain as the nose on (one's) face
  • (as) plain as day
  • plain as day
  • plain as day/the nose on your face
  • plain
  • make a dent in (something)
  • make a dent in something
References in periodicals archive
Now that is plain as a pikestaff, Campbell's name therefore should have been in the first set of notes.
Stotty on Sunday: IFFY AND WHIFFY
He also played up the chances of the UK doing a trade deal with the US quickly, saying: "It's plain as a pikestaff to me in Washington that we would be the first choice to get on with it in March."
Vote down May's deal and bury it, says Davis
Judge Niclas Parry told her the aggravating feature of the case was "as plain as a pikestaff " the extremely large amount of drugs.
Police found PS17k of drugs in playroom; Mum of two'turned blind eye'to use of her home
He added: "It is as plain as a pikestaff that an airport such as a regional airport can only be managed, run and developed by the private sector.
PLANE STUCK; Airport chiefs embarrassed as aircraft sinks in tarmac
'We have had so many high-profile cases of people falsely accused recently, and who have suffered obvious trauma as a result of their public pillorying, that it should be plain as a pikestaff that anonymity should be granted to the accused to match the anonymity of the accuser.'
The trauma of public pillorying
Do they deserve that for misinterpreting the signs at the end of a boozy evening, even if the signs appear as plain as a pikestaff?
STOTTY ON SUNDAY: Rape or just a party date?
It would have been as plain as a pikestaff to the defendants that they belonged to a church, to All Saints church in particular, some of them donated to the church in memory of individuals.
Stallholder paid thieves PS100 to save church silver meltdown; Praised for public spirit as two jailed
The judge said it was as "plain as a pikestaff" that the father did not consent to their departure from the country in which they were "habitually resident" and that their mother's decision to remove them was a violation of international law.
Teacher ordered to return her children