walk the 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.
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
JOURNALISMIf 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
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
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
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
- walk the plank, to
- do a Melba
- like Grant took Richmond
- carry a Chinaman on (one's) back
- have a Chinaman at (one's) neck
- have a Chinaman on (one's) back
- a woman's work is never done
- blow (someone or something) to kingdom come
- blow someone/something to kingdom come
- blow to kingdom come