to walk the plank

Plank \Plank\, n. [OE. planke, OF. planque, planche, F. planche,
   fr. L. planca; cf. Gr. ?, ?, anything flat and broad. Cf.
   {Planch}.]
   1. A broad piece of sawed timber, differing from a board only
      in being thicker. See {Board}.
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   2. Fig.: That which supports or upholds, as a board does a
      swimmer.
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            His charity is a better plank than the faith of an
            intolerant and bitter-minded bigot.   --Southey.
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   3. One of the separate articles in a declaration of the
      principles of a party or cause; as, a plank in the
      national platform. [Cant]
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   {Plank road}, or {Plank way}, a road surface formed of
      planks. [U.S.]

   {To walk the plank}, to walk along a plank laid across the
      bulwark of a ship, until one overbalances it and falls
      into the sea; -- a method of disposing of captives
      practiced by pirates.
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Walk \Walk\, v. t.
   1. To pass through, over, or upon; to traverse; to
      perambulate; as, to walk the streets.
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            As we walk our earthly round.         --Keble.
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   2. To cause to walk; to lead, drive, or ride with a slow
      pace; as, to walk one's horses; to walk the dog. " I will
      rather trust . . . a thief to walk my ambling gelding."
      --Shak.
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   3. [AS. wealcan to roll. See {Walk} to move on foot.] To
      subject, as cloth or yarn, to the fulling process; to
      full. [Obs. or Scot.]
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   4. (Sporting) To put or keep (a puppy) in a walk; to train
      (puppies) in a walk. [Cant]
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   5. To move in a manner likened to walking. [Colloq.]

            She walked a spinning wheel into the house, making
            it use first one and then the other of its own
            spindling legs to achieve progression rather than
            lifting it by main force.             --C. E.
                                                  Craddock.

   {To walk one's chalks}, to make off; take French leave.

   {To walk the plank}, to walk off the plank into the water and
      be drowned; -- an expression derived from the practice of
      pirates who extended a plank from the side of a ship, and
      compelled those whom they would drown to walk off into the
      water; figuratively, to vacate an office by compulsion.
      --Bartlett.
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