plank

(as) thick as a short plank

Remarkably stupid, dimwitted, or obtuse. You're thick as a short plank if you think you can swim across that river. I must have been as thick as a short plank when I was younger, because I sure did some stupid things.
See also: plank, short, thick

(as) thick as two planks

Remarkably stupid, dimwitted, or obtuse. I smoked a lot of marijuana when I was in high school, so I turned out thick as two planks by the time I finally graduated. Jen's new girlfriend is very nice, but she's as thick as two planks.
See also: plank, thick, two

(as) thick as two short planks

Remarkably stupid, dimwitted, or obtuse. I smoked a lot of marijuana when I was in high school, so I turned out thick as two short planks by the time I finally graduated. Jen's new girlfriend is very nice, but she's as thick as two short planks.
See also: plank, short, thick, two

be (as) thick as a short plank

To be remarkably stupid, dimwitted, or obtuse. I smoked a lot of marijuana when I was in high school, so I was as thick as a short plank by the time I finally graduated. Jen's new girlfriend is very nice, but she's thick as a short plank.
See also: plank, short, thick

be (as) thick as two short planks

To be remarkably stupid, dimwitted, or obtuse. I was as thick as two short planks back in high school. Good thing I straightened out in college. Jen's new girlfriend is very nice, but she's thick as two short planks.
See also: plank, short, thick, two

plank over

To cover something up with planks of wood. A noun or pronoun can be used between "plank" and "over." Pedestrians are not allowed on this path until builders have finished planking it over. It turns out they simply planked over the deteriorating ceiling rather than repairing it.
See also: over, plank

walk the plank

To be forced to accept the consequences of something. The phrase refers to the idea of pirates forcing their prisoners to walk off a plank on a ship and ultimately drown in the ocean. The person who's embezzling money from the company will have to walk the plank once their identity is discovered.
See also: plank, walk
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

plank over something

to cover something over with planking. The county planked over the old bridge so bicyclists could use it.
See also: over, plank

*thick as a short plank

 and *thick as two short planks
exceptionally dim-witted. (*Also: as ~.) Dumb? He's as thick as a short plank, more like. Oh, I'd not say she was stupid. As thick as two short planks, yes, but stupid? Never!
See also: plank, short, thick

walk the plank

Fig. to suffer punishment at the hand of someone. (Fig. on the image of pirates making their blindfolded captives die by walking off the end of a plank jutting out over the open sea.) Fred may think he can make the members of my department walk the plank, but we will fight back. Tom thought he could make John walk the plank, but John fought back.
See also: plank, walk
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

walk the plank

Be forced to resign, as in We were sure that Ted hadn't left of his own accord; he'd walked the plank. This metaphoric idiom alludes to a form of execution used in the 17th century, mainly by pirates, whereby a victim was forced to walk off the end of a board placed on the edge of the ship's deck and so drown. [Second half of 1800s]
See also: plank, walk
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

walk the plank

JOURNALISM
If someone in a position of authority walks the plank, they accept responsibility for something bad that has happened and leave their position. The company announced its new sales figures today, six weeks after the crisis that saw its chief executive walk the plank. Note: Many people believe that pirates used to kill their prisoners by forcing them to walk along a plank or gangplank sticking out from the edge of a ship until they fell into the sea.
See also: plank, walk

thick as two planks

or

thick as two short planks

BRITISH, INFORMAL
If someone is as thick as two planks or as thick as two short planks, they are very stupid. His people regarded him as a great and wise king. In fact he was as thick as two planks.
See also: plank, thick, two
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

walk the plank

lose your job or position.
The image here is of the traditional fate of the victims of pirates: being forced to walk blindfold along a plank over the side of a ship to your death in the sea.
See also: plank, walk

thick as two (short) planks

very stupid. informal
Variants of this expression include thick as a plank and thick as a brick . There is a play on thick in its basic sense ‘of relatively great depth from side to side’ and its colloquial sense ‘stupid’.
See also: plank, thick, two
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

(as) thick as two short ˈplanks

(informal) (also (as) thick as ˈshit taboo, slang) (British English) (of a person) very stupid: Because she’s a model, people assume she’s as thick as two short planks, but she isn’t. OPPOSITE: (as) bright as a button
Thick is the opposite of thin and can also mean ‘stupid’ in informal language.
See also: plank, short, thick, two

walk the ˈplank


1 (in the past) walk along a board placed over the side of a ship and fall into the sea, as a punishment
2 (informal) be forced to leave your job or position: The food and the service is terrible in this restaurant. If you ask me, whoever is in charge should be made to walk the plank!
See also: plank, walk
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

walk the plank

To be forced, as by pirates, to walk off a plank extended over the side of a ship so as to drown.
See also: plank, walk
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

walk the plank, to

To be forced to die or to give up one’s position. The term refers to a form of execution favored by seventeenth-century pirates. A board was placed on the ship’s deck extending over the water, and the condemned was forced to walk off the end. Thomas Macaulay used it in 1844: “It would have been necessary for Howe and Nelson to make every French sailor whom they took to walk the plank.”
See also: walk
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • (as) thick as a short plank
  • thick as a short plank
  • in the short haul
  • over the short haul
  • over the short term
  • short on (something) (and long on something else)
  • come short of
  • come short of (something)
  • be short of (something)
  • for short
References in periodicals archive
Plank was scheduled to pitch against Columbia on October 12, but no account of the game has been found.
This was a heavy wood plank which could seat six, one on either side of three handles, and was operated by one or two people standing at the end forcing the swing to start moving with just brute strength.
Subsequent to the exercise of the warrants, Plank holds an aggregate of 150,601 common shares of SiteMAX which represents approximately 6.5% of the issued and outstanding common shares of SiteMAX, and 670,441 preferred shares from earlier investment.
Once the grill is ready, toast the cedar plank on one side for about 30 seconds, just to lightly char it.
Start in a high plank with palms flat on the floor, hands shoulder-width apart, shoulders stacked just about your wrists, legs extended behind you, and core and glutes engaged
Lasting minutes is already an impressive feat, but one woman from Canada endured for hours to beat the Guinness World Record for Longest Abdominal Female Plank.
Tom Geddes took a nontraditional path to become the CEO of Plank Industries, the family investment company of Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank.
After that we did circuits like shuttle runs, sit-ups, step-ups, crunches, skipping, plank, side planks, jumping jacks and rest..
A number of current and former Under Armour executives claim that the company's CEO, Kevin Plank, has turned to MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle for business advice and that the two "have developed close ties in recent years," according to Khadeeja Safdar of The Wall Street Journal.
Two men have been captured on video hurling lengths of wood at each other over their boundary fence in a bizarre example of neighbourhood 'plank wars'.
Notable results included a secondplace finish for Rebecca Plank in the Under-14 single scull and thirdplace finishes for Jenna MacLennan and Melissa McGarva in women's novice double scull; Ross Marchbank, Graeme Duff, Gregor Hall and John Dunse in the restricted 1 quad and the women's restricted 2 coxed quad of Sophie Brett, Natalie Firth, Lindsey Arnott, Ellie Butler and cox Ollie Plank.
"The waiter then attacked me, so I hit him with a wooden plank in self-defence."
"We oppose mandates on personal firearms storage, maintaining that it is the responsibility of an individual to safely store his or her firearms and choose responsibly when and how to make them available to minors," reads plank 74.
SIX celebs had a high old time by walking the plank 330FT UP in a terrifying challenge.
Most commonly available in tile and plank formats, today's vinyl flooring is easy to install and maintain.