blackboard

American  

[blak-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈblækˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

1. a sheet of smooth, hard material, especially dark slate, used in schools, lecture rooms, etc., for writing or drawing on with chalk.

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blackboard British  

/ ˈblækˌbɔːd /

noun

1. a hard or rigid surface made of a smooth usually dark substance, used for writing or drawing on with chalk, esp in teaching

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Etymology

Origin of blackboard

First recorded in 1815–25; black + board

Example Sentences

Looming behind the bluesman is a blackboard, on which a genealogy of the blues has been chalk-drawn in an orderly hand.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

Every game was the football equivalent of fingernails down a blackboard.

From BBC • Oct. 5, 2025

The host walked me to the seating at the back of the restaurant, and we passed a huge blackboard that read, “Leave a message for Mr. G or Lady G.”

From Slate • Nov. 2, 2024

Even though it might be the same observation about the world, about what's on the other side of a blackboard, that feels different coming from the voice of a child.

From Salon • May 22, 2024

Our teachers sat us down, shut us up, and began to talk rapidly at the blackboard, outlining the courses and what would be expected of us in the new Sputnik-inspired curriculum.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam