I. ˈplān verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English planen, from Middle French planer, from Late Latin planare to make flat, level, from Latin planus flat, level — more at floor
transitive verb
1. : to make smooth or even : level
what student came but that you planed her path — Alfred Tennyson
2. : to produce a plane surface on by the use of a planer
3. : to remove by or as if by planing
the mountainside had come away bodily, planed clean — Rudyard Kipling
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to work with a plane
b. : to do the work of a plane
2. : to extend in a smooth or level line without elevations or depressions
mellow farmlands plane to the water's edge — American Guide Series: Vermont
this sea that planed away in all directions — T.O.Heggen
II. noun
or plane tree
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin platanus, from Greek platanos; akin to Greek platys broad — more at place
: a tree of the genus Platanus
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin plana, from planare to make level
: a tool for smoothing or shaping a surface of wood that consists of a smooth-soled stock as of wood or iron from the face of which projects slightly the steel cutting edge of a chisel set at an angle to the face with an aperture in the front for the escape of shavings — see beading plane , bench plane , block plane , bullnosed plane , chamfer plane , circular plane , combination plane , dado plane , dovetail plane , fore plane , jack plane , jointer plane , match plane , rabbet plane , router plane , scrub plane , smoothing plane
[s]plane.jpg[/s]
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Latin planum level surface, from neuter of planus level, flat
1.
a.
(1) : a surface such that the straight line that joins any two of its points lies wholly in that surface : a two-dimensional extent of zero curvature : a surface any intersection of which by a like surface is a straight line
(2) : the graph of a linear equation in three dimensions
b.
(1) : a flat or level material surface
an inclined plane
the faults have tilted a plane to the west — Journal of Geology
(2) : facet
the evening sunlight had begun to turn the smooth planes of the prickly pears into trembling mirrors — Michael Swan
c. : an imaginary plane surface used to identify the position of a bodily organ or a part of the skull
alveolocondylean plane
d. : surface plate
e. : an inclined track (as in a coal mine) over which transportation of a string of cars or a train is effected by gravity or by external power (as by a stationary engine)
2.
a. : a level of existence, consciousness, or development
moved on a plane of excited worldliness — H.S.Canby
keep the conversation on an amicable plane — P.G.Wodehouse
on the intellectual plane
on the religious plane
b. : any of the seven theosophical stages or states of manifestation of being : a sphere of existence in theosophy
c. : a stage in surgical anesthesia
the patient can be brought into the second plane of anesthesia in another location — Journal American Medical Association
3.
a. : one of the main supporting surfaces of an airplane
a low-wing, all-metal single- plane craft — Science News Letter
bi plane
b.
[by shortening]
: airplane
jet plane
transport plane
c. : diving plane
V. adjective
Etymology: Latin planus flat, level — more at floor
1. : having no elevations or depressions : forming part of a plane : flat , level
a plane surface
2.
a. : of, relating to, or dealing with planes or two-dimensional figures only
b. : lying in a plane
a plane curve
Synonyms: see level
VI. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: French planer, from plan plane, from Latin planum level surface; from the level surface formed by the wings of a soaring bird
1.
a. : to soar on or as if on wings
watching a gull plane down in circles without moving a wing — G.W.Brace
a great morpho butterfly leisurely planing along — H.M.Tomlinson
b.
(1) of a seaplane : to move through the water at such a speed as to be supported by hydrodynamic and aerodynamic rather than by hydrostatic forces
(2) of a boat : to skim across the surface of the water : lift partly out of the water while in motion
these craft, when they reach a certain speed, plane on the flat after sections of their hull — Peter Heaton
c. : to move downward as if on an inclined plane : glide
planed down toward it and in a few moments could make out that it was a ship — J.H.Marsh
were pulling her stern first to keep her from diving and planing to the bottom — N.C.McDonald
2.
[ plane (IV) (airplane)]
: to travel by airplane
had planed, trained and driven fifteen hundred miles — Paul Gallico
3. of a submarine : to move from one level to another
ordered me to plane upward two feet, to allow him to raise the periscope that much higher out of the water and thus see a little farther — E.L.Beach