plashing

plashing is the present participle and gerund of plash.

Noun

plashing (countable and uncountable, plural plashings)

A sound that plashes, as of water.
- Barest plashings of a liquid sphere; eloquent breathings of an emerald world...1862, Samuel Ward Francis, Inside out: a curious book, page 216
The cutting or bending and intertwining the branches of small trees, as in hedges.
The dashing or sprinkling of colouring matter on the walls of buildings, to imitate granite, etc.

Meaning of plash

Verb

plash (third-person singular simple present plashes, present participle plashing, simple past and past participle plashed)

(also, figuratively, transitive) To hit (someone or something) with water or some other liquid, causing a splashing sound; to splash.
- When the halcyon is sporting far out on the seas, / In the beach's bright ripple thou plashest thy wings, / And tossest the spray from the shore-eddied rings.1850 April, W. F. Jones, Jr., “The Sea-gull”, in B[enjamin] F[ranklin] Tefft, editor, The Ladies’ Repository: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to Literature and Religion, volume X, Cincinnati, Oh.: L....
1. (also, figuratively, transitive) To splash or sprinkle (a surface, such as a wall) with a liquid colouring matter.
  - to plash a wall in imitation of granite
(Shetland, archaic, transitive) To agitate or plunge into (water or some other liquid), causing it to splash.
- Then, loa ye, from Tenedos through ſtanding deepe floud apeaſed^([sic – meaning appeared?]) / (I ſhiuer in telling) two ſerpents monſterus ouglie / Plaſht the water ſulcking to the ſhoare moſt haſtily ſwinging.1582, “The Second Booke of Virgil His Æneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC, page 27
(intransitive) To hit the surface of water or some other liquid, causing a splashing sound; also, to move in water with a splashing sound; to splash.
- Thro thick and thin they ſcour'd about, / Plaſhin thro Dubs and Sykes, […]1718, Allan Ramsay, “Christ’s-Kirk on the Green, in Three Cantos”, in Poems, 5th edition, Edinburgh: Printed for the author […] [and sold by T. Jauncy […]], published 1722, →OCLC, canto III, page 117
Synonyms:

plap, splosh
(also, figuratively, intransitive) Of water or some other liquid: to hit something, or to move about, with a splashing sound; to splash.
- [T]he ſalt vvater plaſhes and froaths to ſee it ſelf ſo ſuddenly reſiſted: but the moiſt breath uſually vaporing in or upon the Seas makes it ſometimes turbulent.1677, Tho[mas] Herbert, “[Saint Helena]”, in Some Yeares Travels into Divers Parts of Africa, and Asia the Great. […], 4th edition, London: […] R. Everingham, for R. Scot, T. Basset, J[ohn] Wright...
(Shetland, archaic, intransitive) To hit someone or something with water or some other liquid, causing a splashing sound.
- In clammie waies he treaddeth by and by, / And plasheth and sprayeth all that be him nye.c. 1592–1593 (date written), Thomas Nash[e], “The Choosing of Valentines”, in John S[tephen] Farmer, editor, The Choise of Valentines: Or The Merie Ballad of Nash His Dildo […], London: Privately...

See all 18 meanings of plash

Forms of plashing

plural	plashings

Words formed from plashing

plashingly

Questions about plashing

What does plashing mean?: Plashing means a sound that plashes, as of water.
What is plashing the present participle and gerund of?: Plashing is the present participle and gerund of plash.
What part of speech is plashing?: Plashing is a noun.
What is the plural of plashing?: The plural of plashing is plashings.

Words near plashing in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: plashing (page history and authors); plash (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “plashing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/plashing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.