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footboard

American  
[foot-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈfʊtˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

  • footboards
    plural
  1. a board or small platform on which to support the foot or feet.

  2. an upright piece across the foot of a bedstead.

  3. a treadle.


footboard British  
/ ˈfʊtˌbɔːd /

noun

  1. a treadle or foot-operated lever on a machine

  2. a vertical board at the foot of a bed

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of footboard

An Americanism dating back to 1755–65; foot + board


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

In the oil painting, a young woman in a red dress sits on the edge of a motel bed, gripping the footboard tensely.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2025

“My principle inheritance has always been guilt,” writes Schwarcz, who recalls nights of listening to his insomniac father’s heels rhythmically kick the bed’s footboard.

From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2023

One drawing entitled “Little Willie’s Dream After Dinner,” showing Willie cowering in bed, while a gigantic Easter bunny sits on the footboard.

From Slate ● Apr. 21, 2019

Chest throbbing, he hid behind the footboard and covered his head with his hands.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2017

As he strapped his shoes to the footboard and began to lace his feet into the shoes, Stub McMillin, his face alight, said, “OK, this boat is going to fly now, boys.”

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Young men cling for their lives on the footboards, while the mashed throng inside gasps for air.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2022

Get rid of footboards or anything that sticks up that you can bump into.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 25, 2022

Choose sofas with lower, thinner armrests and beds without footboards.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 10, 2020

Are there angry AIs that only understand mathematical patterns keyed into footboards at a frantic rate?

From The Verge ● Oct. 5, 2018

He pulled me up, took pity on me, placed me on the footboards, and drove home with me crouching there in tears.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

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