plash

Imagine tossing a pebble into a still pond. That soft, light sound can be called a plash. The word is used for water moving or hitting something with a gentle splash, and it can also work as a verb: rain can plash on the ground, or a fountain can plash all day. In older writing, it can also mean a small pool or puddle. There is also a British specialized meaning: to plash a hedge is to bend and weave its branches together.

Plash is an old word with a few related meanings. Most often, it refers to the sound or movement of water when it splashes lightly. You might hear the plash of water by a fountain, or say that rain is plashing on stones. In this sense, it is close to splash, but it often feels softer and smaller.

The word can also be a noun for a small pool or puddle, especially in older writing. After rain, a muddy patch in the road might be called a plash. This use is not very common in everyday modern English, but it still appears in literary or historical contexts.

There is also a separate British specialized sense used in farming and gardening. To plash a hedge means to bend, partly cut, and weave branches together so the hedge becomes thick and strong. This meaning is much less common than the water sense, but it is still a real part of the word.

So if you meet plash in a book, it usually points either to light splashing water, to a puddle, or, in a more technical setting, to hedge work.