noun
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a treadle or foot-operated lever on a machine
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a vertical board at the foot of a bed
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of footboard
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.
See Examples For:
In the oil painting, a young woman in a red dress sits on the edge of a motel bed, gripping the footboard tensely.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2025
Unhappy residents ridicule the fact that the statue’s legs don’t reach the ground, requiring an inelegant footboard to keep his shoes from dangling and earning the likeness a new nickname: “The Short Bard.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2019
One drawing entitled “Little Willie’s Dream After Dinner,” showing Willie cowering in bed, while a gigantic Easter bunny sits on the footboard.
From Slate ● Apr. 21, 2019
Chest throbbing, he hid behind the footboard and covered his head with his hands.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2017
Her feet were bare as she crossed the lawn to set the footboard into place.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Young men cling for their lives on the footboards, while the mashed throng inside gasps for air.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2022
Get rid of footboards or anything that sticks up that you can bump into.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 25, 2022
Choose sofas with lower, thinner armrests and beds without footboards.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 10, 2020
Are there angry AIs that only understand mathematical patterns keyed into footboards at a frantic rate?
From The Verge ● Oct. 5, 2018
He pulled me up, took pity on me, placed me on the footboards, and drove home with me crouching there in tears.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
