board

American  

[bawrd] / bɔrd /

noun

• boards
  plural

1. a piece of wood sawed thin, and of considerable length and breadth compared with the thickness.

2. a flat slab of wood or other material for some specific purpose.

   a cutting board.

3. a sheet of wood, cardboard, paper, etc., with or without markings, for some special use, as a checkerboard or chessboard.

4. boards,

   1. Theater. the stage.

      The play will go on the boards next week.

   2. the wooden fence surrounding the playing area of an ice-hockey rink.

   3. a racing course made of wood, used especially for track meets held indoors.

      This will be his first time running on boards.

5. Bookbinding. stiff cardboard or other material covered with paper, cloth, or the like to form the covers for a book.

6. Building Trades. composition material made in large sheets, as plasterboard or corkboard.

7. a table, especially to serve food on.

8. daily meals, especially as provided for pay.

   The charge at the time was twenty dollars a day for room and board.

9. an official group of persons who direct or supervise some activity.

   The motion was approved by the board of directors.

10. Nautical.

    1. the side of a ship.

    2. one leg, or tack, of the course of a ship beating to windward.

11. Railroads. a fixed signal or permanent sign regulating traffic.

12. a flat surface, as a wall or an object of rectangular shape, on which something is posted, as notices or stock-market quotations.

    a bulletin board.

13. surfboard.

14. Computers.

    1. circuit board.

    2. plugboard.

15. Electronics. circuit board.

16. a switchboard.

17. Australian.

    1. the area of a woolshed where shearing is done.

    2. a crew of shearers working in a particular woolshed.

    3. sheep about to be sheared.

18. Obsolete. the edge, border, or side of anything.

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verb (used with object)

• boards,
  present (3rd person singular)
• boarded,
  past participle,  past
• boarding
  present participle

1. to cover or close with boards (often followed by up orover ).

   They just boarded up the house and moved away.

   We had to board over the well to keep animals from getting in there.

2. to furnish with meals, or with meals and lodging, especially for pay.

   They boarded him for $50 a week.

3. to go on board of or enter (a ship, train, etc.).

4. to allow on board.

   We will be boarding passengers in approximately ten minutes.

5. to come up alongside (a ship), as to attack or to go on board.

   The pirate ship boarded the clipper.

6. Obsolete. to approach; accost.

verb (used without object)

• boards,
  present (3rd person singular)
• boarded,
  past participle,  past
• boarding
  present participle

1. to take one's meals, or be supplied with food and lodging at a fixed price.

   Several of us board at the same rooming house.

2. Ice Hockey. to hit an opposing player with a board check.

idioms

1. on the boards, in the theatrical profession.

   The family has been on the boards since grandfather's time.

2. tread the boards. tread.

3. go by the board,

   1. to go over the ship's side.

   2. to be destroyed, neglected, or forgotten.

      All his devoted labor went by the board.

4. across the board,

   1. Racing. betting on a horse or dog to finish first, second, or third, so that any result where a selection wins, places, or shows enables the bettor to collect.

   2. applying to or affecting every person, class, group, etc.

5. on board, Also

   1. on or in a ship, plane, or other vehicle.

      There were several movie stars on board traveling incognito.

   2. Baseball. on base.

      There were two men on board as the next batter came up.

   3. present and functioning as a member of a team or organization.

   4. in agreement; aligned (usually followed bywith ).

      If we want to achieve our goals, we have to get the CEO on board with our plan.

board British  

/ bɔːd /

noun

1. a long wide flat relatively thin piece of sawn timber

2. 1. a smaller flat piece of rigid material for a specific purpose

      ironing board

   2. ( in combination )

      breadboard

      cheeseboard

3. a person's food or meals, provided regularly for money or sometimes as payment for work done (esp in the phrases full board, board and lodging )

4. archaic a table, esp one used for eating at, and esp when laden with food

5. 1. (sometimes functioning as plural) a group of people who officially administer a company, trust, etc

      a board of directors

   2. ( as modifier )

      a board meeting

6. any other committee or council

   a board of interviewers

7. (plural) the acting profession; the stage

8. short for blackboard chessboard notice board printed circuit board springboard surfboard

9. stiff cardboard or similar material covered with paper, cloth, etc, used for the outside covers of a book

10. a flat thin rectangular sheet of composite material, such as plasterboard or chipboard

11. 1. a list on which stock-exchange securities and their prices are posted

    2. informal the stock exchange itself

12. nautical

    1. the side of a ship

    2. the leg that a sailing vessel makes on a beat to windward

13. the part of the floor of a sheep-shearing shed, esp a raised part, where the shearers work

14. the killing floor of an abattoir or freezing works

15. 1. any of various portable surfaces specially designed for indoor games such as chess, backgammon, etc

    2. ( as modifier )

       board games

16. 1. a set of hands in duplicate bridge

    2. a wooden or metal board containing four slots, or often nowadays, a plastic wallet, in which the four hands are placed so that the deal may be replayed with identical hands

17. the hull of a sailboard, usually made of plastic, to which the mast is jointed and on which a windsurfer stands

18. See above board

19. to be in disuse, neglected, or lost

    in these days courtesy goes by the board

20. on or in a ship, boat, aeroplane, or other vehicle

21. 1. (in gambling) to win all the cards or money

    2. to win every event or prize in a contest

22. to accept (new ideas, situations, theories, etc)

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verb

1. to go aboard (a vessel, train, aircraft, or other vehicle)

2. nautical to come alongside (a vessel) before attacking or going aboard

3. to attack (a ship) by forcing one's way aboard

4. (tr; often foll by up, in, etc) to cover or shut with boards

5. (intr) to give or receive meals or meals and lodging in return for money or work

6. (sometimes foll by out) to receive or arrange for (someone, esp a child) to receive food and lodging away from home, usually in return for payment

board More Idioms  

1. see across the board; back to the drawing board; bed and board; bulletin board; by the board; go overboard; on board; open and aboveboard; room and board; stiff as a board; tread the boards.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reboard
  verb (used with object)
• boardable
  adjective
• boardlike
  adjective
• unboarded
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• boards
  plural

Participles

• boarding
  present
• boarded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• board
  simple
• boards
  simple
• have boarded
  perfect
• has boarded
  perfect
• am boarding
  progressive
• are boarding
  progressive
• is boarding
  progressive
• have been boarding
  perfect progressive
• has been boarding
  perfect progressive

Past

• boarded
  simple
• had boarded
  perfect
• was boarding
  progressive
• were boarding
  progressive
• had been boarding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will board
  simple
• will have boarded
  perfect
• will be boarding
  progressive
• will have been boarding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of board

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English bord “board, table, shield”; cognate with Dutch boord “board,” bord “plate,” German Bort, Old Norse borth, Gothic -baurd

Explanation

A board is a plank or surface, sometimes having buttons or controls. You can cut vegetables on a cutting board, post a flyer on a bulletin board, or cause a power outage on a circuit board. The word board frequently finds itself as half of a compound word where the action takes place: You stand on a surfboard, type at a keyboard, or lose on a checkerboard. You can also sit on a board, meaning a team, of directors, or board, meaning stay, at a hotel. If you want to leave your hotel, you may board, or climb onto, your hovercraft. Remember: Being stiff as a board is not the same as being bored stiff.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

board boards boarded boarding

A federal judge previously ruled that the board could not rename the Kennedy Center without congressional approval and blocked an earlier closure plan.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

For a period of time, he took on a role as council member on Indian Creek Village’s governing board.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Visitors can also learn more about the birds' diet through a new information board beside the penguin pool, created in partnership with Cornish sardine fishermen.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Jeff Bezos went to the event hoping to persuade board members to admit him to the club, according to people who attended the event.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

My list of eighth-grade goals is pinned up on the bulletin board next to the bookshelves, so neat and hopeful.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

The stock had previously fallen almost a third this year on concerns that AI models will divert traffic from the company’s message boards.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Indonesia's president mulled the possibility of a special court on Friday to investigate "unproductive" boards reporting "made up" profits, as he vowed to close 750 state-owned enterprises by year end.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

The cricket boards of Scotland and the Netherlands have criticised the International Cricket Council for structural changes made to the men's 50-over World Cup.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

“The big mistake boards make is thinking that reducing reserve funding reduces reserve expenses,” said Robert Nordlund, founder of Association Reserves.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

Greenish-yellow lightning flashed around the edges of the plywood boards they’d put up, and—poom—the electricity went out for good.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

Three smaller military jets were nearby and was impossible to tell which plane Clinton had actually boarded.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

Astronaut Wally Schirra boarded the vessel wearing his personal Omega Speedmaster Professional, orbiting Earth six times over the course of nine hours.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

The Smyrtos was taken to be anchored off Weymouth after Royal Marines Commandos intercepted and boarded it in a first-of-its-kind operation to disrupt the sanctioned tanker in June.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

According to an anonymous US official who spoke to the Post, Trump boarded an Air Force One jet in Ankara on July 8, but then moved into a catering container attached to the plane.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

General Grant and his wife had declined Lincoln’s invitation and boarded a train headed home instead.

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson

Until this month, the resurrected Chevy Metal could only perform during Shane’s breaks from his boarding school on the East Coast, but he is newly graduated and ready to play.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

By 13, he was spending hours each day practicing alone in the basement at his boarding school.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

On 8 July, footage showed him boarding the presidential jet at Ankara airport.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

According to the Post, Trump crossed to the other side of the presidential plane after boarding and stepped into the truck’s elevated container.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

They were boarding a train for Oxford to meet Dorothy Hodgkin, the grande dame of crystallography.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• catch
• climb on
• enter
• get on
• hop on