blackboard

American  

[blak-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈblækˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

1. a sheet of smooth, hard material, especially dark slate, used in schools, lecture rooms, etc., for writing or drawing on with chalk.

---

blackboard British  

/ ˈblækˌbɔːd /

noun

1. a hard or rigid surface made of a smooth usually dark substance, used for writing or drawing on with chalk, esp in teaching

---

Etymology

Origin of blackboard

First recorded in 1815–25; black + board

Example Sentences

His breakthrough came in The Blackboard Jungle in 1955, in the role of a disruptive pupil in an inner-city school.

From BBC • Jan. 7, 2022

He went on to appear in films like "Blackboard Jungle," "Forbidden Planet," "The Tender Trap," "Love Me Tender," "The Last Wagon," "Pollyanna," "Ten Who Dared," "Ride the High Country," among others.

From Fox News • Apr. 6, 2020

Blackboard jungle: After graduation, McGuire joined her husband in Memphis, where he was a school administrator.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2016

The song, used in the 1955 movie Blackboard Jungle about a White teacher at a troubled inner-city high school, seemed to be calling for teens to declare their independence from adult control.

From Textbooks • Dec. 30, 2014

Blackboard crayons are made of this: so are whitewash and whiting for cleaning silver and making putty.

From Diggers in the Earth by Tappan, Eva March