headboard

American

[hed-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈhɛdˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

a board forming the head of anything, especially of a bed.

headboard British

/ ˈhɛdˌbɔːd /

noun

a vertical board or terminal at the head of a bed

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of headboard

First recorded in 1720–30; head + board

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.

His niece, the daughter of Ms Nazarova, was also in the house and had to be rescued by firefighters after a headboard was placed to block her door.

From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026

“I actually built her giant butterfly wings last year for my Halloween costume … They are now the headboard to my bed!”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2025

The task of obtaining a headboard we'd bought on Facebook Marketplace, for example, involved the following:

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2025

That includes checking the mattress, baseboards, behind the headboard, nightstands and curtains.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2024

I slipped it under my shirt; but when I got upstairs, Charles’s head had rolled back against the wall where the headboard should have been and he was snoring.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023