Meaning
To be forced to walk off a plank extended over a ship's side into the sea, the legendary pirate method of execution; figuratively, to be made to accept the consequences, lose a position, or be sacrificed for others' misconduct. Almost always used jokingly, theatrically, or in historical and adventure-fiction contexts rather than literally. Humorous, theatrical, or historical register; ideal for playful threats and parody of pirate stories. Avoid presenting it as a routine historical pirate punishment, since the sources agree genuine cases were rare. Regional use: General English.
Origin
Despite its fame, the documented record is strikingly thin, and the cases that survive mostly post-date the golden age of piracy, which ended around 1730. The earliest print evidence is a 1763 Public Advertiser report of pirates near Guadeloupe forcing captives to walk into the sea on a plank fixed for that purpose. The phrase reaches dictionaries in 1788, when Francis Grose defined it as a mutineers' way of killing officers while supposedly evading a murder charge. Scattered real incidents followed in 1822-29, including the crews of the Blessing and the Redpole. Literature then did the work: Ellms's The Pirates Own Book (1837), Stevenson's Treasure Island (published 1883-84), and Barrie's Peter Pan (play 1904, novel 1911) fixed plank-walking as the signature pirate execution, a status the historical evidence does not support.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- made to walk the plank
- walk the death plank
- walking the plank
Usage Examples
- In the pantomime, the hapless first mate is forced to walk the plank to the obvious delight of the children.
- The chairman made it clear that anyone who leaked figures to the press would walk the plank.
- Vintage posters show a blindfolded captain walking the plank, a scene lifted straight from Victorian adventure fiction.