Meaning & use
plaits
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“plaits” is a form of “plait”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounpluralBritish
Lengths of hair, rope or straw woven together from three or more strands into a single rope-like piece.
Grammar: Plural of plait: she wore two plaits.
Patterns
- plaits in someone's hair
She wore her hair in two long plaits.
The baker made a loaf from three plaits of dough.
The rope was made of several plaits of rough straw.
verbtransitive or intransitiveBritish
Weaves three or more strands over and under each other to form a braid.
Grammar: Third person singular of plait: she plaits her hair each morning.
Patterns
- plaits something
She plaits her sister's hair before school.
He plaits the strips of leather into a belt.
Grandma plaits the dough for challah every Friday.
Word forms
| singular | plait |
|---|
Common combinations
- two plaits
- The girl had two neat plaits.
- long plaits
- Her long plaits reached her waist.
- French plaits
- She wore French plaits for the dance class.
- tie plaits with ribbon
- She tied the plaits with red ribbon.
- undo the plaits
- At night she undid the plaits.
Synonyms and how they differ
- braids
- It is the usual American word and is also standard in British English for hair; plaits sounds more British.
- pigtails
- It means hair gathered in two hanging bunches, which may or may not be plaited.
- twists
- It involves two strands wound together, unlike plaits, which use three or more.
Word family
Commonly confused: plaits or plates? plaits or pleats?
plaits vs plates
Plates are dishes; plaits are braids, though both are said with a similar first sound.
plaits vs pleats
Pleats are folds in cloth, not woven braids, and are said as pleets.
Practice
The girl tied the ends of her two ___ with blue ribbon.
Choose one answer.
Plaits are braids of hair. Pleats are cloth folds and plates are dishes, so neither can be tied with ribbon here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “plaits”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.