gangplank

noun

"gangplank" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gangplank” is uncommon English (frequency #75,903 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#75,903
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A board used as a temporary footbridge between a ship and a dockside.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gangplank · gangplank · English

gangplank · rank #75,903 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #75,903
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH garg

Nearest frequency peer: garg (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “gangplank”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “gangplank” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for gangplank
PropertyValue
Headwordgangplank
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#75,903
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “gangplank” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).gangplankfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “garg” (#75,904), “Gandhian” (#75,901), “Garo” (#75,905). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gangplank” is #75,903. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

gangplank is uncommon English at frequency #75,903 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A board used as a temporary footbridge between a ship and a dockside.".

No misspelling variants are generated for gangplank in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From gang (“way, path, course of travel”) + plank (“board”). The correct English form is gangplank, spelled G-A-N-G-P-L-A-N-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    A board used as a temporary footbridge between a ship and a dockside.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how gangplank appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Every since the age of six Troy Belknap of New York had embarked for Europe every June on the fastest steamer of one of the most expensive lines. With his family he had descended at the dock from a large noiseless motor, had kissed his father good-bye, turned back to shake hands with the chauffeur (a particular friend), and trotted up the gang-plank behin…

Etymology

From gang (“way, path, course of travel”) + plank (“board”).

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "gangplank"?
"gangplank" is spelled G-A-N-G-P-L-A-N-K.
What does "gangplank" mean?
As a noun, "gangplank" means: A board used as a temporary footbridge between a ship and a dockside.
What is the origin of the word "gangplank"?
From gang (“way, path, course of travel”) + plank (“board”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gangplank", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list