drawing board

noun

1. a rectangular board on which paper is placed or mounted for drawing or drafting.

drawing board

noun

1. a smooth flat rectangular board on which paper, canvas, etc, is placed for making drawings
2. back to the drawing board
   back to the drawing board return to an earlier stage in an enterprise because a planned undertaking has failed

Word History and Origins

Origin of drawing board¹

First recorded in 1715–25

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. 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.

2. on the drawing board, in the planning or design stage:

   The shopping center is still on the drawing board.

More idioms and phrases containing drawing board

see back to the drawing board .

Example Sentences

If you’re not including social in your content plan, make sure to go back to the drawing board.

From Search Engine Land

Next-generation nuclear plants have been around for 30 or 40 years, at least on the drawing board, and only a few of them have actually ever been tried.

From Freakonomics

First, advocates questioned what was taking so long, then community members and experts flagged so many concerns with the draft ordinance that a City Council committee sent it back to the drawing board.

From Voice of San Diego

The City Council’s Public Safety & Land Use Committee agreed Thursday to send a plan to strengthen police oversight back to the drawing board.

From Voice of San Diego

Some of these have already started to take shape, while others are still on the drawing board.

From MIT Technology Review

“Back to the drawing board and what a circus we will have to watch,” Stephens said.

From The Daily Beast

But in seven months, the team took the Spire from the drawing board to a real-world test in Albany, New York.

From The Daily Beast

Designer royal baby items are on the (literal) drawing board, thanks to Karl Lagerfeld, Dior, Vera Wang, and more.

From The Daily Beast

“I really have to go back to the drawing board,” she admitted.

From The Daily Beast

Whatever the case, the drawing board may not be a bad place for Serena to visit.

From The Daily Beast

He was there, a few feet away; and while her soul was tossing on seas of woe he had been quietly sitting at his drawing-board.

From Project Gutenberg

The impatient sweeping aside of the drawing-board seemed to reveal a new mood.

From Project Gutenberg

As a youngster I had planned to study architecture, as I had developed some talent at the drawing board.

From Project Gutenberg

Your dad was a wonderful draftsman, Peg, commented Cleo, with her newly trained eye tracing the intricacies of the drawing board.

From Project Gutenberg

When she had taken off her hat and laid it upon his drawing-board, he held her against him and caressed her hair.

From Project Gutenberg