placard
Americannoun
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a paperboard sign or notice, as one posted in a public place or carried by a demonstrator or picketer.
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Armor. placate.
verb (used with object)
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to display placards on or in.
The square was placarded by peace marchers.
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to publicize, announce, or advertise by means of placards.
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to post as a placard.
noun
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a printed or written notice for public display; poster
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a small plaque or card
verb
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to post placards on or in
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to publicize or advertise by placards
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to display as a placard
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have placardedperfect
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has placardedperfect 3rd person singular
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am placardingprogressive 1st person singular
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are placardingprogressive
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is placardingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been placardingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been placardingperfect progressive
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placardssingular 3rd person
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placardingparticiple
Past
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had placardedperfect
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was placardingprogressive singular
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were placardingprogressive plural
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placardedsimple
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had been placardingperfect progressive
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placardedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of placard
Explanation
A placard is a sign, especially one that advertises something. You might get a summer job standing on the sidewalk, holding a placard that announces a mattress sale — though it may not be your dream job. A concert poster, a storefront notice, a protest sign carried in a rally — each of these is a type of placard. A placard can be as impermanent as a square of cardboard with a scrawled message, and as official as a permanent plaque marking a historic building. The Old French word plaquier is at the root of placard, and it means "to plaster or to lay flat."
Vocabulary lists containing placard
The Sun Is Also a Star
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Eats, Shoots & Leaves
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Johnny Tremain
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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.
"Free our president," read a placard held by a man with a red flannel shirt which bore the image of Maduro's predecessor and mentor, late socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez.
From Barron's • Jan. 5, 2026
A placard listing Penning’s high school-recruiting rating, and the schools he attended, had yet to be placed atop his stall next to long snapper Josh Harris.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 9, 2025
"I wrote on my placard: 'People! Let's stop the war. We bear responsibility for peace on Planet Earth!'"
From BBC • Oct. 30, 2025
A troupe of schoolchildren visiting its lobby masses in front of a statue with the legend “The Truth Shall Make you Free” and an office placard announces “Suspicion Breeds Confidence.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 7, 2025
I was still staring at the placard, feeling my already teetering world spin me off my feet again.
From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
