- 1[countable, uncountable] a long, thin piece of strong, hard material, especially wood, used, for example, for making floors, building walls and roofs, and making boats He had ripped up the carpet, leaving only the bare boards. see floorboard, hardboard, particleboard
- 2[countable] (especially in compounds) a piece of wood, or other strong material, that is used for a special purpose a blackboard I'll write it up on the board. a bulletin board The exam results went up on the board. a diving board She jumped off the top board. a chessboard He removed the piece from the board. see message board, pegboard
- 3[countable] = bodyboard, sailboard, surfboard group of people
- 4[countable] a group of people who have power to make decisions and control a company or other organization She has a seat on the board of directors. The board is unhappy about falling sales. members of the board discussions at the board level the youth advisory board (= for example, of a political campaign) the board of education (= a group of elected officials who are in charge of all the public schools in a particular area) see school board organization
- 5[countable] used in the name of some organizations the Federal Reserve Board meals
- 6[uncountable] the meals that are provided when you pay to stay in a place; what you pay for the meals Her tuition includes room and board. exams
- 7boards [plural] (old-fashioned) exams that you take when you apply to go to college or medical school
- 8the boards [plural] (old-fashioned) (informal) the stage in a theater His play is on the boards on Broadway. She's treading the boards (= working as an actress). hockey
- 9the boards [plural] the low wooden wall surrounding the area where a game of hockey is played The puck went wide, hitting the boards. There are many other compounds ending in board. You will find them at their place in the alphabet. Idioms
- 1on or in a ship, an aircraft, or a train synonym aboard Have the passengers gone on board yet?
- 2giving your support to an idea or a project We must get more sponsors on board. You need to bring the whole staff on board. It's good to have you on board (= working with us) for this project.
piece of wood, etc.
involving everyone or everything in a company, an industry, etc. The industry needs more investment across the board. an across-the-board salary increase
(of plans or principles) to be rejected or ignored; to be no longer possible All her efforts to be polite went by the board and she started to shout at him.
to win all the prizes, etc. in a competition
to accept and understand an idea or a suggestion I told her what I thought, but she didn't take my advice on board.
Check pronunciation: board