Walking the plank

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Walking the plank is a form of execution popularly (but incorrectly) believed to have been widely practiced by pirates. As usually described, it involved the victim being forced to walk off the end of a wooden plank or beam extended over the side of a ship, thereby falling into the water to drown, sometimes with bound hands, and/or in shark-infested waters (these predators often follow a ship). In fact, there is no evidence of this practice ever being widespread, and it seems more likely that victims were simply thrown over the side of the ship. It has, however, become a major part of modern imaginings of pirates, and is frequently depicted in literature and films. It is thought to have first been popularized in the novel Peter Pan.

It should not be confused with the well-documented naval keelhauling.
Nowadays it is only enacted in a mock version, where the victim is just thrown into a safe pool, e.g. during hazing, possibly in silly dress and/or denuded.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Wrestler Paul Birchill, who portrays a pirate as his gimmick, performs a move he has come to call "Walking The Plank." The move is a a standing moonsault side slam.
A version of walking the plank occurs in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
In politics, the term "walk the plank" refers to a situation where leaders of a political party force rank-and-file members to make a potentially career-ending vote for the sake of party unity and passage of priority legislation.[1]