aboard
Americanadverb
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on board; on, in, or into a ship, train, airplane, bus, etc..
to step aboard.
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alongside; to the side.
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Baseball. on base.
a homer with two aboard.
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into a group as a new member.
The office manager welcomed him aboard.
preposition
idioms
adverb
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on, in, onto, or into (a ship, train, aircraft, etc)
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nautical alongside (a vessel)
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a warning to passengers to board a vehicle, ship, etc
Etymology
Origin of aboard
1350–1400; Middle English abord ( e ) ( see a- 1, board), perhaps conflated with Middle French a bord
Explanation
The adverb aboard means on board, as in on a ship, train or plane. Usually the captain will welcome you aboard with a brief speech if you're lucky — or a long one if you're not. Aboard comes from the French phrase à bord, which has the same meaning as the English word — on board. If you were just hired, your new manager might say "Welcome aboard" (the figurative company train). The phrase "All aboard!" is said as a warning before departure, especially before a ship or train leaves. It means, in essence: haul your keister up here quick or you'll be left behind!
Vocabulary lists containing aboard
Words Every Pirate Should Know
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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"The Star-Spangled Banner" and "The Flag We Love"
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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.
During a Thanksgiving call in November 2018 to sailors aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, an older Nimitz-class carrier with steam catapults, Trump asked the ship’s commanding officer his opinion of steam versus electric catapults.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Rice, from Cranleigh in Surrey, was a signalman aboard HMS Eastway as part of the Normandy landings, arriving at Juno Beach five days after D-Day.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Astronaut photograph ISS075-E-85249 was taken on August 28, 2026, by a member of the Expedition 75 crew aboard the International Space Station.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
A nearly eight-month stint aboard the International Space Station came to a splashing end for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 on Thursday, when their recovery vessel safely splashed down off the coast of Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The presence of so much rosewood aboard the Shinan ship was a strong indication that the vessel had sailed as far as Southeast Asia and with the intention of trading in Korea and Japan.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
