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walk the plank
walk the plank
Fig. to suffer punishment at the hand of someone. (Fig. on the image of pirates making their blindfolded captives die by walking off the end of a plank jutting out over the open sea.) Fred may think he can make the members of my department walk the plank, but we will fight back. Tom thought he could make John walk the plank, but John fought back.
walk the plank
to have to leave your job
After he was caught stealing from the company, the treasurer was forced to walk the plank. Etymology: based on the literal meaning of walk the plank ( to punish someone who worked on a ship by forcing them to walk off the end of a narrow board into the sea)
walk the plank
to be forced to leave your job
Usage notes: In the past, people on ships who had committed crimes were forced to walk to the end of a plank (= a long flat piece of wood) and go over the side of the ship into the water.
Several Cabinet Ministers have been forced to walk the plank following the latest Government scandal. walk the plank
Be forced to resign, as in We were sure that Ted hadn't left of his own accord; he'd walked the plank. This metaphoric idiom alludes to a form of execution used in the 17th century, mainly by pirates, whereby a victim was forced to walk off the end of a board placed on the edge of the ship's deck and so drown. [Second half of 1800s]
walk the plank
To be forced, as by pirates, to walk off a plank extended over the side of a ship so as to drown.