Meanings
- CanadaUSobsoleteslangA very fast speed.
The passion of young New York is for horses — fast horses — two-forty on a plank road.
1852, G. Henry Howard Paul, Dashes of American humour, page 2061 more example
[…] some that remained, running to and fro, with white rags suspended on broom-handles, and an old darky had a bleached salt-sack tied to a limb of a tree, waving it at the rate of two-forty on a plank-road.
1862, Frank Moore, The Rebellion Record, a Diary of American Events, page 474 - CanadaUSbroadlyobsoleteslangThe quality of being "fast", i.e. immoral in one's habits.
In Canada, where trotting is also a very favourite amusement, and whence came the famous trotting mare Flora Temple, a very “fast” young lady is generally spoken of as “two forty on a plank road.”
1867, The Broadway Annual, page 596
Cite this entry
two-forty on a plank road. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two-forty%20on%20a%20plank%20road
“two-forty on a plank road.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two-forty%20on%20a%20plank%20road. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “two-forty on a plank road,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two-forty%20on%20a%20plank%20road.
Source: two-forty on a plank road on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.