# planer

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpleɪ̯n.əɹ/ · frequency rank #62,415

## Definitions
1. A tool which smooths a surface or makes one surface of a workpiece parallel to the tool's bed.
2. A person employed to use this kind of woodworking tool.
3. A large machine tool in which the workpiece is traversed linearly (by means of a reciprocating bed) beneath a single-point cutting tool. (Analogous to a shaper but larger and with the workpiece moving instead of the tool.) Planers can generate various shapes, but were most especially used to generate large, accurate flat surfaces. The planer is nowadays obsolescent, having been mostly superseded by large milling machines.
4. A wooden block used for forcing down the type in a form, and making the surface even.

## Etymology
From Middle English planer, planere, equivalent to plane + -er.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/planer