pleach
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pleach
- /pliːtʃ/ UK
- /plit͡ʃ/ US
Rhymes with -iːtʃ
Where it comes from
The verb is from Late Middle English pleshe, Middle English plechen, pleche (“to layer; to propagate (a plant) by layering, to pleach”), possibly from Anglo-Norman and Middle French plesser, plessier, Middle French plescer, variants of Middle French, Old French plaissier, plessier (“to plash”), from Late Latin *plaxus, from Latin plexus (“braided, plaited, woven; bent, twisted”), perfect passive participle of plectō (“to braid, plait, weave; to bend, turn, twist”).
The noun is derived from the verb.
verb pleaches · pleaching · pleached
- To unite by interweaving, as (horticulture) branches of shrubs, trees, etc., to create a hedge; to interlock, to plash. Her Vine, the merry chearer of the heart, / Vnpruned, dyes: her Hedges euen pleach'd, / Like Priſoners wildly ouer-growne with hayre, / Put forth diſorder'd Twigs: [...]
noun pleaches
-
An act or result of interweaving; specifically, (horticulture) a hedge or lattice created by interweaving the branches of shrubs, trees, etc.
Not a dryad of the beeches, / Through the filmy forest-reaches, / That a tress of summer pleaches, / But had owned her queen; [...]
Similar: plash
- A branch of a shrub, tree, etc., used for pleaching; a pleacher. These stems should be stripped (or nearly so) of their branches, and notched at the bottom (in the way which every hedger knows) to form a pleach: these pleaches should be laid in the intervals along the line of the stubs, and again notched, [...]
- A notch cut into a branch so that it can be bent when pleaching is carried out. Traditional hedge laying involves, first, clearing away undergrowth and weeds, particularly from a hedge that has been neglected and allowed to grow tall. Untidy side branches are removed. A cut, known as a pleach, is made in the back of the trunk, leaving a 'hinge'; old-time hedgers recommend that
Translations
Talk about this word "pleach." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pleach. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pleach. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pleach "pleach." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pleach.Cite this
@misc{pleach_2026,
title = {pleach},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pleach},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
