How to Use plait in a Sentence

plait

1 of 2 noun
  • She wore her hair in plaits.
  • Low-tension styles are no longer just a few neat plaits.
    — Donnetta Monk, Essence, 21 Nov. 2025
  • Pull both the braids back to the back of your head in the center and secure the plaits with pins.
    — Brooke Shunatona, Cosmopolitan, 10 Jan. 2018
  • If this is your first attempt, our how-to video along with the recipe will lead you to a perfect plait.
    — Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 Sep. 2022
  • Doja's hair is slicked back and her plait sits low on her head, anchored at the base with a little bit of chain.
    — Jihan Forbes, Allure, 31 Aug. 2020
  • Braid your hair from back to front, since any layered shorter pieces in the front might be hard to weave into a plait.
    — Carly Cardellino, Cosmopolitan, 25 Aug. 2017
  • Back then Meghan wore her hair in a fluffy ponytail or in two braids secured at the top and bottom of each plait.
    — Leslie Carroll, Vanities, 24 Apr. 2018
  • To complete the ensemble, braid your hair into two plaits and tie them with baby blue bows at the ends.
    — Emma Kershaw, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
  • For this look, Lisa's stylist braided her hair before looping dozens of clips into the plaits.
    — Allure, 16 July 2018
  • Like her fellow searcher Gabriela, Luz’s hair is tightly tied back into a matching plait.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 26 June 2026
  • Next, create the simple plait before adding another scrunchie to secure the ends — and voilà, you're all done.
    — Gabi Thorne, Allure, 15 July 2022
  • But the numbers above imply ubiquity—a new plait in the fabric of society.
    — Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 15 June 2022
  • Each waist-length braid had multiple jelly-like beads in various colors and shapes woven in, spaced out along the plait.
    — Gabi Thorne, Allure, 1 Dec. 2022
  • The ponytail has a simple plait that wasn't braided all the way through, leaving the last fourth of the Kanekalon hair to sit freely at the end.
    — Gabi Thorne, Allure, 8 Oct. 2021
  • The ultra-fine plaits falling past the shoulders give this look a sleek, understated finish.
    — Sunnah Rasheed, InStyle, 24 June 2026
  • My mother would pull my hair into two plaits or sometimes into an Afro puff that looked like a fluffy rabbit’s tail on top of my head.
    — Dana Snitzky, Longreads, 2 May 2018
  • Goddess, or boho, braids are an ethereal style that combines small three-strand braids with curly strands added throughout the middle and end of each plait.
    — Amira Rasool, InStyle, 8 June 2026
  • Two jumbo plaits taken down is a universally flattering hairstyle that's easy to do.
    — Shammara Lawrence, Allure, 10 Sep. 2018
  • In addition to dressing down, or punk-ing up, any ensemble, its tight plaits may just help smooth the little forehead creases south of the hair line.
    — Jamie Rosen, Town & Country, 8 Apr. 2014
  • Hair wound into an easy plait and finished with a designer tie communicates a cheeky insouciance.
    — Calin Van Paris, InStyle, 14 June 2026
  • Merriweather is keen on emphasizing that each plait is done by hand to call attention to the time and care put into these hairstyles.
    — Gabi Thorne, Allure, 21 Mar. 2022
  • Together, the pair have dreamed up floor-length pastel pink pigtails, neon orange cornrows, and an electric green plait that doubled as a necklace.
    — Vogue, 24 Jan. 2022
  • Between the plait’s gorgeous golden hue and 3D dimension, the hairstyle was pretty hard to miss.
    — Jennifer Ford, Essence, 13 June 2019
  • For this super laidback, windchill-ready look, Hadid wore a beanie hat over her plaits, ski goggle-like black sunglasses, and black leather gloves.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 3 Jan. 2026
  • The best way to give your Afro a shape, Scott said, is to braid wet, curly, virgin (as in chemical-free) hair in tight cornrows, or up to six big plaits.
    — Elizabeth Wellington, Philly.com, 12 Jan. 2018
  • In 1780, a peat-cutter found a skeleton and a plait of hair in a bog on Drumkeragh Mountain.
    — Christian Als, Smithsonian, 2 May 2017
  • In 1780, a peat-cutter found a skeleton and a plait of hair in a bog on Drumkeragh Mountain.
    — Christian Als, Smithsonian, 29 May 2017
  • The perfectly imperfect artsy-meets-preppy plait was secured with elastics at both the base and the ends, because who has time to do the whole hair-wrapping thing?
    — Marci Robin, Allure, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Watch as Turner slays the game and drops a wealth of knowledge about the intricacies and details of weaves and plaits on Game of Thrones.
    — Jenna Rosenstein, Harper's BAZAAR, 9 Mar. 2018
  • Based on the size of the plaits, knotless braids can be styled into beautiful updos, woven together to make even larger braids, or left out, flowing down your back.
    — Amira Rasool, InStyle, 8 June 2026

plait

2 of 2 verb
  • My mum taught me how to plait my own hair.
  • If your stylist is plaiting your hair too tightly, be vocal and ask them to ease up.
    — Annie Blay-Tettey, Allure, 24 June 2025
  • Just as there are two distinct ways to plait your fingers, there are two distinct ways to do a faro.
    — Guest Blogger, Discover Magazine, 16 July 2012
  • The braid was center-parted and plaited down the center of her back.
    — Jenna Rosenstein, Harper's BAZAAR, 7 May 2018
  • Price was wearing a blue summer dress and her thick hair was plaited in two French braids.
    — Deneen L. Brown, Washington Post, 21 Sep. 2019
  • Worn in half-up half-down pigtails that were plaited back from her face, her hair was secured with mini pink bows.
    — Hannah Coates, Vogue, 6 Mar. 2023
  • Her mother then plaits her thick hair into two Dutch braids that fit under her helmet for the show ring.
    — Mckenna Oxenden, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2023
  • Nishia’s hair is still plaited into the dark blue braids that Ashlynn did for her – new hair for the start of school.
    — Arika Herron, Indianapolis Star, 5 Sep. 2019
  • Her pigtails were perfect, each plaited into a tight, long braid and secured with a ribbon.
    — Longreads, 26 June 2018
  • Her hair was plaited into dreadlocks, covered with thick paste, and finished with tassels that looked like cows’ tails.
    — Stanley Stewart, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Dec. 2018
  • Her hair stylist—a man also called Iggy, a glimmer of light-ish relief—fixes plaited weaves to her head.
    — Eve Barlow, GQ, 19 Apr. 2018
  • Another clip showcases the star using her plait as a prop in her choreography.
    — Kaleigh Fasanella, Allure, 1 Aug. 2018
  • Among the haunting remnants, one image has stayed with me—a child's lock of hair, neatly plaited and tied with a small red ribbon, matted with mud.
    — Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 24 Jan. 2025
  • With heads of bisque, eyes of glass, and wigs of human hair—carefully plaited and curled—they are flawlessly composed and quite contained.
    — Laura Jacobs, WSJ, 17 Nov. 2018
  • Dada tenderly plaits Hussainia’s bushy hair into neat cornrows.
    — TIME.com, 27 June 2017
  • Even Kim Kardashian’s tousled platinum hair was loosely plaited into a fishtail braid in the back.
    — Hannah Coates, Vogue, 7 May 2024
  • In this case, Hill recommends sectioning hair into quadrants and then plaiting or twisting the ends together.
    — Deanna Pai, Vogue, 18 Mar. 2024
  • Princess Anne noted the rural communities who, in their attention to detail, had cleaned their tractors and plaited their horses’ manes.
    — Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 7 May 2023
  • Leane was schooled in the art of Victorian era hair jewelry, learning to plait hair specifically for the jewelry, and encase it in glass.
    — Jill Newman, Town & Country, 30 Dec. 2021
  • One of the most important traditions is pineapple pole plaiting, in which artisans weave and shape materials into intricate forms.
    — Taryn White, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
  • The student, who studies milliner and enjoys a technique called straw plaiting when crafting hats, thanked His Majesty and Chanel for their contributions.
    — Angel Saunders, People.com, 14 Dec. 2024
  • This fall, Tom Ford proposed a louche take on evening style, using black, slim-plaited, or delicately sequined scarves whose long tassels provocatively dangle at the hips.
    — Tom Stubbs, Robb Report, 30 Nov. 2024
  • The Old Arrow Maker, for example, shows a Dakota woman plaiting a mat, while her father carves an arrowhead from jasper.
    — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 1 Feb. 2017
  • The musician also modeled a second look in the show, featuring a black polka-dot top worn under a black floor-length jacket with material that appeared to be shredded and plaited into a design.
    — Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 2 Mar. 2024
  • The precarious situation plaited by these threads is the subject of Bryon’s film, which premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
    — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 June 2023
  • The Prince and Princess of Wales' daughter has also previously sported smaller ribbons or had her hair plaited back in braids when she's worn her hair this way, and her oversize bow at Trooping matched her white outfit.
    — Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 13 June 2026
  • The key difference is that Bora Bora braids are typically plaited in line with the existing length of your natural hair, allowing the remainder of the curly human hair to billow outwards and form the bulk of the hairstyle.
    — Ranyechi Udemezue, Vogue, 29 July 2024
  • Broad materials, such as palms in the tropics, are plaited like braids; narrow materials, such as grasses on the Savannah, are coiled like ceramic pots; while stiffer materials, such as willow in the lowlands, are woven like tapestry.
    — Deborah Needleman, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'plait.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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