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.

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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.

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billboard ¹ British  

/ ˈbɪlˌbɔːd /

noun

1. another name for hoarding

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billboard ² British  

/ ˈbɪlˌbɔːd /

noun

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

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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.

Example Sentences

“If dogs could vote, they’d vote Spencer Pratt for LA Mayor,” reads a billboard.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026

Born in Cincinnati, Turner inherited a billboard company from his father that he turned into Turner Broadcasting System, an Atlanta-based television and movie giant that he eventually sold to Time Warner in 1995.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026

Using the billboard business as a springboard into new industries, Turner started buying local radio stations across the South in the late 1960s.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

He began his career by taking over the successful family billboard company when his father took his own life, then bought a radio station in Atlanta, Georgia.

From BBC • May 6, 2026

Then he remembered: it was Buckley, the man whose face he had seen the workmen pasting upon a billboard a few mornings ago.

From "Native Son" by Richard Wright

Related Words

• advertisement
• placard
• poster
• signboard