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printed circuit board

American  
[prin-tid sur-kit bawrd] / ˈprɪn tɪd ˈsɜr kɪt ˌbɔrd /

noun

Electronics.

  1. a sheet made up of layers of conductive and insulating material onto which circuit components have been mounted and their interconnecting conductors have been printed or etched. PCB

printed circuit board British  

noun

  1. Also called: printed circuit.   printed circuit card.  an electronic circuit in which certain components and the connections between them are formed by etching a metallic coating or by electrodeposition on one or both sides of a thin insulating board

"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
printed circuit board Scientific  
/ prĭn′tĭd /

  1. A flat plastic or fiberglass board on which interconnected circuits and components are laminated or etched. Chips and other electronic components are mounted on the circuits. Computers consist of one or more printed circuit boards, usually called cards or adapters.

  2. See more at motherboard

Etymology

Origin of printed circuit board

First recorded in 1955–60

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.

L.A. literature: In a durably famous metaphor for Southern California, “The Crying of Lot 49’s” heroine, Oedipa, compares the sight of a distant sprawling suburb to a transistor radio’s printed circuit board.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

Elite Material is a manufacturer of copper-clad laminates and prepregs, and a mass lamination foundry for printed circuit board players.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

In this case, the researchers used polyaniline, also known as PANI, a synthetic polymer with conductive properties already used in applications such as printed circuit board manufacturing.

From Science Daily • Dec. 11, 2023

Chip substrate and printed circuit board maker Unimicron Technology Corp said its Kunshan plant was gradually resuming operations from Wednesday.

From Reuters • Apr. 20, 2022

A printed circuit board maker, Unimicron Technology, in Shenzhen.

From New York Times • Mar. 15, 2022

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.