pleck Now dial.
(plɛk)
Forms: α. 4 plek, 5 pleke, 5–8 plecke, (8 plack), 7– pleck. β. 4 plecche.
[ME. plecche, plecke, plek, repr. an OE. *plecce, cognate with MDu. and early mod.Du. plecke piece of ground, plot, spot, speck, stain, blemish, Du. plek spot, LG. plek piece of ground, place. (Thought by some to be related to MLG. plack, LG. plak, plakke patch, spot, rag, Du. plak slice, flat piece.) Not connected with Old Northumbrian plæce, plætse, ad. L. platea (see place n.).]
1. A small piece or spot of ground; a plot or plat; a small enclosure.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1379 Prudly on a plat playn, plek alþer-fayrest. c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xxxiv, If he see þat þe hare hath be at pasture in grene corne, or in eny oþer plecke. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 405/1 Plecke, or plotte, porciuncula. 1485 in Descr. Cat. Anc. Deeds (1890) I. 358 A howse to kepe there wod dry yn w{supt} a gardyn pleke. 1575 Nottingham Rec. (1889) IV. 160 Payd for a locke for the medow plecke yate iij{supd}. 1638 in Harwood Lichfield (1806) 484 An hedge betwixt Collin's pleck and the orchard. 1793 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) IV. 17 Planted at the same time on two distinct placks with Peas and magazan Beans. 1855 Chamb. Jrnl. III. 281 Cultivation is daily claiming, acre by acre, rushy moor and newdried pleck and plash. |
† 2. A (discoloured) spot or patch; a stain, a blemish. Obs.
| c 1315 Shoreham Poems iv. 327 Oþere souche plecches Scheweþ wat onde deþ. 1535 Coverdale Lev. xiii. 4 Eny whyte plecke in the szkynne of his flesh. |
3. ‘A square bed of dried grass’ (E.D.D.).
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 72/2 [At Haymaking] Plecks is to make it, or turn it into square Beds. |
4. A place; a town, village, or the like. dial.
| 1674 Ray N.C. Words 37 A Pleck, a Place. c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lanc. Dial. Wks. (1862) 51 His Gronny's alive an wooans..e Grinfilt, at Pleck where his nown Mother coom fro. c 1860 Staton Rays fro' th' Loomenary ii. 33 He neer knocks;..he comes into th' pleck withe⁓awt axin' leave. |