plash
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
plash¹
- /plæʃ/ US, UK
Rhymes with -æʃ
Where it comes from
From Middle English plasch, plasche, plash, plashe (“pool of standing water, marshy place; torrent of water (?)”), from Late Old English plæsċ, plesċ (“pool; puddle”), probably from Proto-West Germanic *plask (“pool”); further etymology unknown, probably ultimately onomatopoeic, referring to the sound of splashing.
cognates
* German platschen (“to splash”)
* Middle Dutch plasch, plas (“pool”) (modern Dutch plas (“pool, watering hole”), plassen (“to splash, splatter”); Middle French plache (“pool”), plascq (“damp meadow”); Anglo-Norman plasseis (“marshes”, plural))
* West Frisian plaskje (“to splash, splatter”)
noun plashes
- A small pool of standing water; a marshy pond; also, a puddle; (uncountable) marshy land; mire. And ſo than they of Bruges began to ſhote gonnes at thẽ. And than they of Gaũt diſcharged at ones thre .C. gonnes at one ſhotte: and ſo tourned a bout the plaſſhe of water and cauſed the ſon⸝ to be in the eyen of thẽ of Bruges⸝ the which greued them ſore: […]
plash²
- /plæʃ/ US, UK
Rhymes with -æʃ
Where it comes from
Probably onomatopoeic, referring to the sound of splashing. The noun is attested earlier than the verb. It is not clear whether this word is related to plash (“small pool of standing water”) (see etymology 1). The interjection is derived from the noun.
As regards the noun, compare German Platsch (noun), platsch (interjection). As regards the verb, compare Early Dutch plasschen, plassen (“to splash in water”); Middle Low German plasken, plassen (“to splash”); Swedish plaska (“to splash”).
noun plashes
-
A sound made by something hitting the surface of water or some other liquid, or by water or some other liquid hitting something; also, an act causing this sound; a splash.
One ſhip that Lycius did ſhrowd with faithful Orontes / In ſight of captayne was ſwaſht with a royſterus heapefloud. / Downe the pilot tumbleth with plaſh round ſummoned headlong, / Thriſe the grauel thumping in whirlpoole plunged, is hooule'd: […]
Similar: splosh
-
A heavy fall of rain; a downpour.
Penthouses five stories high, not so much for the protection of the people in the street as to keep the plash of heavy rain from the house windows, so that these might be the more safely open.
Similar: cloudburst, rainstorm
- A splash of light on a surface. The waterfall, scattering its vanishing gems; the tall grove of hemlocks, with moss on their stems, like plashes of sunlight; […]
verb plashes · plashing · plashed · plash
- To hit (someone or something) with water or some other liquid, causing a splashing sound; to splash. When the halcyon is sporting far out on the seas, / In the beach's bright ripple thou plashest thy wings, / And tossest the spray from the shore-eddied rings.
- To splash or sprinkle (a surface, such as a wall) with a liquid colouring matter. to plash a wall in imitation of granite
- To agitate or plunge into (water or some other liquid), causing it to splash. Then, loa ye, from Tenedos through ſtanding deepe floud apeaſed^([sic – meaning appeared?]) / (I ſhiuer in telling) two ſerpents monſterus ouglie / Plaſht the water ſulcking to the ſhoare moſt haſtily ſwinging.
- To hit the surface of water or some other liquid, causing a splashing sound; also, to move in water with a splashing sound; to splash. Thro thick and thin they ſcour'd about, / Plaſhin thro Dubs and Sykes, […]
- Of water or some other liquid: to hit something, or to move about, with a splashing sound; to splash. [T]he ſalt vvater plaſhes and froaths to ſee it ſelf ſo ſuddenly reſiſted: but the moiſt breath uſually vaporing in or upon the Seas makes it ſometimes turbulent.
- To hit someone or something with water or some other liquid, causing a splashing sound. In clammie waies he treaddeth by and by, / And plasheth and sprayeth all that be him nye.
interjection
- Used to represent the sound made by something hitting the surface of water or some other liquid, or by water or some other liquid hitting something. In the ooze generally the water comes half-way up the shoe, and we go plash, plash, plash, in the lawn-like glade.
plash³
- /plæʃ/ US, UK
Rhymes with -æʃ
Where it comes from
The verb is derived from Late Middle English *plashen (attested by the present participle form plashynge), from Anglo-Norman plaissier, plaisser, Old French plaissier, plaisser, and Old French plaissier (“to bend; to interlace”) (modern French plaisser (regional)), from Late Latin *plaxus, a variant of Latin plexus, the perfect passive participle of plectō (“to braid, plait, weave; to bend; to turn; to twist”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to fold; to plait, weave”). Doublet of pleach.
The noun is derived from the verb.
cognates
* Old French plesce (“enclosure surrounded by hedges”) (Middle French plesse, Middle English plaishes (“hedges forming an enclosure, palisade of hedges or wattles”), modern French plaisse, plesse (“enclosure surrounded by hedges; hedge; branch of a hedge”))
verb plashes · plashing · plashed
-
Synonym of pleach (“to make or repair (a hedge) by partly cutting plant stems, bending them down, and intertwining them with other stems”).
[I]n the months of Ianuarie and Februarie he ſhall firſt plaſh and cut his Hedges and Quick-ſets, that thereby they may grovv thicke and ſtrong at the bottomes: […]
Similar: pleach
- To bend down and intertwine (branches or stems of plants, etc.) to make or repair a hedge. [C]utting yong trees half a ſunder and bowyng downe theyr toppes to the ground, and plaſſhing the boughes that growe thicke oute of the ſydes wyth buſhes and thornes betwene thẽ [them], they brought to paſſe that theis [these] hedges were as good a defence to them as a wal: […]
- To bend down (a bush, tree, or other plant). You knovv that there vvas an Orchard on the left hand, and ſome of the Trees hung over the VVall, and my Brother did plaſh and did eat.
- To intertwine (branches or stems of plants) on a trellis; to trellis; also, to train (a tree or other plant) to grow against a wall; to espalier. [A]s your Uine groweth you ſhall draw it through thoſe holes, and as you vſe to plaſh a Uine againſt a wall, ſo you ſhall plaſh this againſt the glaſſe window, on the in-ſide, and ſo ſoone as it ſhall beginne to beare Grapes you ſhall be ſure to turne euery bunch, ſo that it may lye cloſe to the gla
- To intertwine (branches, flowers, etc.) together; to interweave.
- To intertwine branches or stems of plants of (a wood) to block a passage for defensive purposes.
noun plashes
- A plant stem which has been partly cut, bent down, and intertwined with other stems to make or repair a hedge; also, a bush, hedge, etc., which has been pleached in this manner; a pleach. [T]he freſh fragrant flovvers of Divine Poeſie and Morall Philoſophy could not like vvell to be removed, nor tranſported to thoſe thorny places and plaſhes of the Lavv.
Talk about this word "plash." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/plash. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. plash. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/plash "plash." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/plash.Cite this
@misc{plash_2026,
title = {plash},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/plash},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
