planchette

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   The small movable pointer that people rest their fingers on when using a spirit board to spell out messages.

   Grammar: Usually mentioned with a Ouija board.

   Patterns

   • the planchette on the board
   • move the planchette

   The planchette slid across the board toward the letter A.

   Everyone placed a fingertip on the planchette and waited.

   The planchette stopped at the word goodbye.

2. 2nouncountableold-fashioned

   A small board on wheels with a pencil, once used in attempts to write messages said to come from spirits.

   Grammar: A historical sense, from the nineteenth century.

   Patterns

   • a planchette and pencil

   The Victorian family tried a planchette with a pencil at the table.

   A planchette was supposed to write by itself.

   The museum showed a planchette used in nineteenth-century seances.

Word forms

Common combinations

move the planchette

Who is moving the planchette?

planchette on the board

The planchette on the board drifted slowly.

wooden planchette

The old set had a wooden planchette.

heart-shaped planchette

A heart-shaped planchette came with the game.

touch the planchette

Each player had to touch the planchette lightly.

Synonyms and how they differ

pointer

Pointer is the plain word and could mean any indicating object.

indicator

Indicator is a technical term for anything that shows a reading and lacks the spooky association.

marker

Marker is general and could refer to any object that marks a spot.

Word family

planche noun

the French word for a board, the root of the term

Ouija noun

the board game or board it is used on

seance noun

a meeting held to contact spirits

Commonly confused: planchette or plaquette?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “planchette”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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