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placard

American  
[plak-ahrd, -erd] / ˈplæk ɑrd, -ərd /

noun

placards plural
  1. a paperboard sign or notice, as one posted in a public place or carried by a demonstrator or picketer.

  2. Armor. placate.


verb (used with object)

placards, present (3rd person singular) placarded, past participle, past placarding present participle
  1. to display placards on or in.

    The square was placarded by peace marchers.

  2. to publicize, announce, or advertise by means of placards.

  3. to post as a placard.

placard British  
/ ˈplækɑːd /

noun

  1. a printed or written notice for public display; poster

  2. a small plaque or card

"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

verb

  1. to post placards on or in

  2. to publicize or advertise by placards

  3. to display as a placard

"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

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Etymology

Origin of placard

1475–85; < Middle French. See plaque, -ard

Explanation

A placard is a sign, especially one that advertises something. You might get a summer job standing on the sidewalk, holding a placard that announces a mattress sale — though it may not be your dream job. A concert poster, a storefront notice, a protest sign carried in a rally — each of these is a type of placard. A placard can be as impermanent as a square of cardboard with a scrawled message, and as official as a permanent plaque marking a historic building. The Old French word plaquier is at the root of placard, and it means "to plaster or to lay flat."

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Vocabulary lists containing placard

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.

Placard abuse occurs frequently downtown because of the scarcity of parking, said Ald.

From Chicago Tribune • Oct. 26, 2011

Along toward Placard 15 a talking film of President Hoover urging the Senate to balance the Budget was thrown on the screens.

From Time Magazine Archive

When Mr. Hutson held up Placard 2 the band stopped playing "California, Here I Come" and fell into "Happy Days Are Here Again," Governor Rolph's official tune.

From Time Magazine Archive

The stunt had been done before, in 1785, but getting there was half the fun for Donald Placard, 37, and Paul E. Yost, 39, both of Sioux Falls, S. Dak.

From Time Magazine Archive

But it is to no purpose: at the door of that Theatins Church, appears a Placard, and suspended atop, like Plebeian Consular fasces,—a Bundle of Rods!

From The French Revolution by Carlyle, Thomas

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