running board

American

noun

a small ledge, step, or footboard, formerly beneath the doors of an automobile, to assist passengers entering or leaving the car.

running board British

noun

a footboard along the side of a vehicle, esp an early motorcar

"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 running board

1810–20, in sense “platform from which a large pole boat is poled,”

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.

In “really urgent” situations, he said other drivers advised him to open the door and stand on the running board to let urine trickle out of the van.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 25, 2021

“I said, ‘Alfred can get out that truck and back it up to the dock standing on a running board.

From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2020

Guests would perch on the running board as he drove them to beach picnics or moonlit games of hockey.

From The Guardian • Sep. 26, 2017

His brother was driving off with Daddy hanging on the running board of a Model T when a pursuer driving alongside snatched Daddy’s pants off from behind.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 11, 2015

The boys reluctantly climbed down from the running board; only their eyes looked over the door.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

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