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Synonyms

billboard

1 American  
[bil-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈbɪlˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

  1. a flat surface or board, usually outdoors, on which large advertisements or notices are posted.

verb (used with object)

  1. to place, advertise, proclaim, etc., on or as if on a billboard.

    The movie was billboarded as the year's biggest hit.
billboard 2 American  
[bil-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈbɪlˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

Nautical.

  1. anchor bed.

billboard 1 British  
/ ˈbɪlˌbɔːd /

noun

  1. another name for hoarding

"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
billboard 2 British  
/ ˈbɪlˌbɔːd /

noun

  1. a fitting at the bow of a vessel for securing an anchor

"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

Etymology

Origin of billboard1

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; bill 1 + board

Origin of billboard2

First recorded in 1855–60; bill 3 + board

Explanation

A billboard is a giant roadside sign. You might pass several billboards on the highway advertising a car dealership, a restaurant, or anything else someone paid to have on a billboard big enough to be seen by passing cars. When a company decides how to advertise, it may buy Internet ads, TV commercials, newspaper spreads, or billboard advertisements. A billboard is a good way for a business to catch people's attention, because it’s so big and a commuter may drive or walk past it five times a week. The word billboard first appeared in American English in the 1840s, meaning the board or wall where posters or handbills could be pasted. Billboard is also the name of a music magazine.

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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.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos declared a state of "national energy emergency", citing risks to domestic supplies, and Sri Lanka ordered street lights, neon signs and billboard lighting to be switched off.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

On the riverbank I spot an army recruitment billboard.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2026

The area is deep “rooted in Black home ownership, Black businesses and cultural pride,” says L.A. resident Robert China Berry who placed a billboard nearby that reads “Black Beverly Hills.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026

Behind him, a digital billboard bore the sentence, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”

From Salon • Feb. 9, 2026

Maybe my family could have a billboard even, like the Kasteevs, with our faces on it, smiling happy.

From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

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.