- [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.
- She noticed a loose board in the fence.
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- [countable] (especially in compounds) a piece of wood, or other strong material, that is used for a special purpose
- a whiteboard
- I'll write it up on the board.
- (British English) a noticeboard
- (North American English) 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 figure from the board.
Homophones board | boredboard boredTopics Educationa2, Games and toysa2/bɔːd//bɔːrd/- board noun
- The rules were written on the board.
- board verb
- They are waiting to board a plane for New York.
- bored adjective
- The others began to look bored.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- bulletin
- drawing
- poster
- …
- game
- on a/the board
- [countable] (especially in compounds) the piece of equipment on which somebody stands in various water sports and in snowboarding and skateboarding
- You kick-turn with both feet on the board.
- [countable + singular or plural verb] a group of people who have power to make decisions and control a company or other organization
- The board is/are unhappy about falling sales.
- members of the board
- on the board She has a seat on the board of directors.
- He has served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals.
- She sits on various advisory boards.
- a board member/meeting
- discussions at board level
- board of somebody/something The decision was approved by the museum's board of trustees.
- (North American English) the Board of Education (= a group of elected officials who are in charge of all the public schools in a particular area)
Extra ExamplesTopics Businessb2- She put her ideas to the board.
- The project will go to the board for consideration.
- He became one of the first foreigners to be appointed to the board of a major Japanese company.
- He's chairman of the BBC's board of governors.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- advisory
- editorial
- executive
- …
- be on
- serve on
- sit on
- …
- member
- meeting
- board of
- at board level
- chairman of the board
- a member of the board
- …
- [countable] used in the name of some organizations
- the Welsh Tourist Board (= responsible for giving tourist information)
Extra Examples- The exams are set by the Cambridge Examining Board.
- All boxers are examined by medical officers from the British Boxing Board of Control.
- [uncountable] the meals that are provided when you stay in a hotel, guest house, etc.; what you pay for the meals
- He pays £90 a week board and lodging.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- full
- half
- board and lodging
- room and board
- boards[plural] (old-fashioned, US English) exams that you take when you apply to go to college in the US
- the boards[plural] (old-fashioned, informal) the stage in a theatre
- His play is on the boards on Broadway.
- She's treading the boards (= working as an actress).
- the boards[plural] (North American English) the low wooden wall surrounding the area where a game of ice hockey is played
- The puck went wide, hitting the boards.
see also above board, mortar board
piece of wood, etc.
in sports
group of people
organization
meals
exams
in theatre
ice hockey
Word OriginOld English bord, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch boord and German Bort; reinforced in Middle English by Old French bort ‘edge, ship's side’ and Old Norse borth ‘board, table’.
Idioms
See board in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee board in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishacross the board
- involving everyone or everything in a company, an industry, etc.
- The industry needs more investment across the board.
- an across-the-board wage increase
go by the board
- (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.
on board
- on or in a ship, an aircraft or a train synonym aboard
- Have the passengers gone on board yet?
- giving 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.
sweep the board
- to win all the prizes, etc. in a competition
take something on board
- 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