walk the plank

present singular third person walks the plank · participle present walking the plank · participle past walked the plank · past walked the plank

1. alsofigurativelyhistoricalOn an early naval vessel or pirate ship: to be forced to walk off the end of a gangplank (a plank of wood extending outwards from the side of the vessel) and plunge into the ocean and drown, used as a method of killing.

   [I]t is quite a painful reflection how many whole crews we have made to walk the plank for no more than a stock of biscuit or an anker or two of spirit.

   1889, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Master’s Wanderings”, in The Master of Ballantrae. […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, […], →OCLC, page 56

   5 more examples

   Walking the Plank. A mode of deſtroying devoted perſons or officers in a mutiny on ſhip-board, by blindfolding them, and obliging them to walk on a plank laid over the ſhip's ſide; by this means, as the mutineers ſuppoſe, avoiding the penalty of murder.

   [1788, [Francis Grose], “Walking the Plank”, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd edition, London: […] S[amuel] Hooper, […], →OCLC

   Wo unto the crews of such English vessels as now fell into his [Blackbeard's] hands! he showed them no mercy; they either walked the plank, or the hatches were nailed down upon them, and they went down in the scuttled ship.

   1835, chapter XI, in Blackbeard. A Page from the Colonial History of Philadelphia. […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 137

   The Portuguese held his tongue like a brick, and walked the plank, while the jolly tars cheered like mad. But the sly dog dived, came up under the man-of-war, scuttled her, and down she went, with all sail set, 'To the bottom of the sea, sea, sea,' where—

   1868, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Camp Laurence”, in Little Women: […], 1st part, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1869, →OCLC, page 188

   How many it [the treasure] had cost in the amassing, what blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell.

   1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Fall of a Chieftain”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part VI (Captain Silver), page 283

   Hook smiled on them with his teeth closed, and took a step toward Wendy. His intention was to turn her face so that she should see the boys walking the plank one by one.

   1911, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “The Pirate Ship”, in Peter and Wendy, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 212

   Synonyms: walk the gangplank

2. idiomaticTo be forced to resign from a position in an organization.

   After he was caught selling company secrets, it’s not surprising they made him walk the plank.

   4 more examples

   I forgot that I had been given the place as a "political reward." I was immediately reminded of it by the expectations of those political "workers" whom the Board of County Commissioners wished me to appoint to officers in my court. […] When I refused to make a single clerk "walk the plank," their indignation was amazing.

   1910, Ben[jamin] B[arr] Lindsey, Harvey J[errold] O’Higgins, “The Beast in the County Court”, in The Beast, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 77

   [Grover] Cleveland stood pat and another "carpet bagger" [William A. Vincent, Chief Justice of the First Judicial District, Territory of New Mexico] had walked the plank to political exile so far as New Mexico was concerned.

   1964, William A. Keleher, “Judge Vincent and Grover Cleveland”, in Maxwell Land Grant: A New Mexico Item, 2nd edition, Albuquerque, N.M.: University of New Mexico Press, published 1983, →ISBN, page 137

   If, on the other hand, operating performance is poor to lousy, the COO [chief operating officer] walks the plank while the CEO [chief executive officer] accepts the resignation—which, by the way, is always for "personal" reasons, policy differences, or to pursue other (always unspecified) interests—with regret in varying degrees of intensity.

   1985, Richard S. Sloma, “Section I: What is a Turnaround?”, in The Turnaround Manager’s Handbook, Washington, D.C.: BeardBooks, published 1999, →ISBN, page 12

   So why on earth would [Bill] Clinton share any credit with Republicans? Did he remember summoning Democrats to walk the plank for this? How could any president spit on their sacrifice and uphold the party cohesion to survive?

   2009, Taylor Branch, The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN

   Synonyms: walk the gangplank