pleach
UK /pliːtʃ/ · US /plit͡ʃ/ verb, noun
Forms pleaches pleaching pleached
- verb (transitive) To unite by interweaving, as (horticulture) branches of shrubs, trees, etc., to create a hedge; to interlock, to plash.
- noun An act or result of interweaving; specifically, (horticulture) a hedge or lattice created by interweaving the branches of shrubs, trees, etc.
- noun (horticulture) A branch of a shrub, tree, etc., used for pleaching; a pleacher.
- noun (horticulture) A notch cut into a branch so that it can be bent when pleaching is carried out.
Synonyms
Etymology
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.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To unite by interweaving, as branches of trees; to plash; to interlock. "The pleached bower." Shak.
Etymology [Cf. OF. plaissier to bend, and also F. plisser to plait, L. plicare, plicitum, to fold, lay, or wind together. Cf. Plash to pleach.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pleach”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details