plait

For the unaware, that classic acronym comes from the French phrase Répondez s'il vous plait.

From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2023

"That woman with the tightly curled blond plait," you may be thinking to yourself.

From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2019

She stood about four and a half feet tall and liked to keep her hair shoulder length, in a plait, her grandfather said.

From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2019

I would sooner plait my lower back hair than care enough about my natural brow bridge to remove it.

From The Guardian ● May 3, 2017

She touched one with a bare foot, as if the plait were some sort of unknown animal.

From "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen

"My mam plaits it in two plaits so it goes directly between my spine... She has always plaited my hair since so it's kind of a tradition now."

From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2024

An ecru wool crepe cape with long, draping sleeves set the classical tone, with the gathered plaits of the models’ hair, a throwback to times past.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 3, 2023

And at least two of the witnesses testified that one of the shooters had shoulder length locs or plaits, a hairstyle that McDaniel has but neither Moses nor Mayfield had, according to court testimony.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2022

Some quipus descend from high ceilings like the bloody entrails of ancient matriarchs; others are nothing more than plaits of grass.

From New York Times ● Aug. 25, 2022

Gabrielle orders the servants around, telling them how the princess will wear her hair for the evening—three single plaits twisted into a low bun—and she tells the other ladies-of-honor how to drape her with jewelry.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Elsewhere in Haute Couture Week, Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny sat front row for the Schiaparelli show in a pastel yellow-coloured suit and a tie of plaited golden strands.

From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026

The young millennial rocked different hairstyles and loved switching it up: a curly Afro one week, two-strand twists the next, micro plaited braids and a range of cornrow designs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2024

This week, the bakers are instructed to make a plaited bread centerpiece.

From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2023

She’s a brainy brunette wallflower, a fraying nerve barely held together by tightly plaited milkmaid braids.

From New York Times ● Nov. 15, 2022

“He still chose a country over us,” she said, digging her fingers past her plaited braids into her scalp.

From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat

It takes a willingness to understand and honor the hairstyle's origins and what that plaiting symbolizes to accept that not everybody should flaunt it.

From Salon ● May 2, 2025

“It is less risky if we go as a group,” she said while plaiting her friend’s hair.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2022

John Frieda Frizz Ease Clearly Defined Gel was Aspiras' go-to while plaiting the two side braids, which he secured with clear elastics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2018

A wigmaker was plaiting those goofy braids and a jeweler was fabricating the pearl-and-ruby crown.

From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2011

On those days I had the thrill of getting up even earlier, grooming Quince until she shone, plaiting her mane and tail, oiling her hooves, then traveling with her in the horse trailer.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall