floorboard

American  

[flawr-bawrd, flohr-bohrd] / ˈflɔrˌbɔrd, ˈfloʊrˌboʊrd /

noun

1. any of the boards composing a floor.

2. the floor of an automotive vehicle.

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verb (used with object)

1. floor.

floorboard British  

/ ˈflɔːˌbɔːd /

noun

1. one of the boards forming a floor

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Usage

What does floorboard mean? A floorboard is one of the usually wooden planks that make up a floor.It usually refers to a board of plywood used to make a subfloor—the rough floor beneath a finished floor. Many houses are constructed using floorboards to create a subfloor, which is then often covered with materials like hardwood, carpet, tile, linoleum, or some form of laminate flooring.The word floorboard means something else in the context of vehicles—it refers to the floor of a car or truck.This sense of the word is the basis of the slang verb floorboard, meaning to press a vehicle’s accelerator (gas pedal) as far down as possible (all the way to the floor) in order to go as fast as possible. The word floor is more commonly used to mean the same thing. Both terms are often followed by it, as in As soon as the light turned green, I floorboarded it so I could get way ahead of all the other cars. Example: I pried up a loose floorboard hoping to find treasure under, but there was just a lot of dust and dirt.

Etymology

Origin of floorboard

First recorded in 1880–85; floor + board

Example Sentences

For 40 years, Japan’s money held up the floorboards of American prosperity.

From MarketWatch

Rugs can cover gaps between floorboards, and warm hard floors.

From BBC

Under the floorboards of her closet, Smith conceals “glittering refuse I had scavenged from trash bins, fragments of costume jewelry, rosary beads,” along with a blue toothbrush she’s invested with magical powers.

From Los Angeles Times

European banks probably have fewer cockroaches lurking beneath their floorboards than U.S. peers.

From Barron's

Basically, the same array of CDs you’d find in the floorboards of the least dateable guy you knew in the 1990s.

From Salon