drawing board
Americannoun
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drawing boards
plural
idioms
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back to the drawing board, back to the original or an earlier stage of planning or development.
Our plan didn't work out, so it's back to the drawing board.
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on the drawing board, in the planning or design stage.
The shopping center is still on the drawing board.
noun
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a smooth flat rectangular board on which paper, canvas, etc, is placed for making drawings
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return to an earlier stage in an enterprise because a planned undertaking has failed
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of drawing board
First recorded in 1715–25
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.
"He has to go back to the drawing board and he can come again."
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
They hoped they'd left the Champions League drawing board behind, but they're right back where they were when Kairat and Midtjylland and Ferencvaros and Cluj and AEK were the ones inflicting the pain.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
This has sent the Fed back to the drawing board.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
Building new pipelines to bypass Hormuz has been on the drawing board for years, but has been frustrated by the conflict in Yemen and other issues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
When Dessie got up in the morning Tom was already at his drawing board, beating his forehead with his fist and growling to himself.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
