backboard

[ bak-bawrd, -bohrd ]

/ ˈbækˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

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noun

a board placed at or forming the back of anything.

Basketball. a board or other flat vertical surface to which the basket is attached.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of backboard

First recorded in 1755–65; back¹ + board

Words nearby backboard

back bench, backbencher, backbend, backbite, backblocks, backboard, back boiler, backbone, backbreaker, backbreaking, backburn

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use backboard in a sentence

Drives to the basket that typically produced layups ended in wild attempts that thumped off the backboard.
Brenda Frese coaches on day of father’s death, and No. 8 Maryland loses to No. 11 Michigan, 69-49|Kareem Copeland|January 17, 2022|Washington Post
As the basket’s kindness mounted, Rocket Watts shot from outside the arc to the right of the top, and it caromed around the rim and backboard some until it, too, dropped.
UCLA plots a comeback to oust Michigan State in overtime to cap NCAA tournament’s opening night|Chuck Culpepper, Des Bieler, Matt Bonesteel, Cindy Boren, Glynn A. Hill, Molly Hensley-Clancy|March 19, 2021|Washington Post
When Adebayo dished the ball to Heat sharpshooter Tyler Herro, Hachimura switched onto Herro and got a hand in his face without fouling before Herro sent a desperation shot clanking against the backboard.
Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija are regaining their footing after missing so much time|Ava Wallace|February 4, 2021|Washington Post
For Harrington, it was the culmination of a long effort that included a fall on El Cap in 2019, which sent her to the hospital strapped to a backboard.
Inside Emily Harrington's Triumph on El Capitan|Outside Editors|December 24, 2020|Outside Online

Ramos was still showing no signs of life when they got him on a backboard and into the ambulance.
'Please Don't Die!': The Frantic Battle to Save Murdered Cops|Michael Daly|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One of the men jumped down, and fumbled at the iron pins which kept the backboard of the cart in its place.
The Mark Of Cain|Andrew Lang
Aid with two well-directed taps he knocked the pins out of their sockets, and let down the backboard of the cart.
The Mark Of Cain|Andrew Lang
Just off an old drain I found an overturned wagon with a loophole cut through the backboard.
"Over There" with the Australians|R. Hugh Knyvett
And the men let down the backboard, and they put in all their things: all their poles and the bars and the shovel.
The Doers|William John Hopkins
Oftener a plank of wood was cut into the desired shape as a frame or mould, and fastened to a heavy backboard.
Home Life in Colonial Days|Alice Morse Earle

British Dictionary definitions for backboard

backboard

/ (ˈbækˌbɔːd) /

noun

a board that is placed behind something to form or support its back

a board worn to straighten or support the back, as after surgery

(in basketball) a flat upright surface supported on a high frame, under which the basket is attached

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