What does "board" mean?
A relatively long, wide and thin piece of any material, usually wood or similar, often for use in construction or furniture-making.
Board
/bɔːd/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A relatively long, wide and thin piece of any material, usually wood or similar, often for use in construction or furniture-making.
- Grammar: board is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: panel, plank, aboard, accommodate.
- Useful contrasts: alight, alighting, crottle.
- Usage evidence: The local school board would go to any length to ban that book.
How to use "board"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "board" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "board" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "board" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "board" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "board" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "panel" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "board", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A relatively long, wide and thin piece of any material, usually wood or similar, often for use in construction or furniture-making. countable, uncountable
"Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines."
- 2 A rebound. informal
- 3 a flat piece of material designed for a special purpose wordnet
- 4 A device (e.g., switchboard) containing electrical switches and other controls and designed to control lights, sound, telephone connections, etc. countable, uncountable
- 5 a flat portable surface (usually rectangular) designed for board games wordnet
Show 20 more definitions
- 6 A flat surface with markings for playing a board game. countable, uncountable
"Each player starts the game with four counters on the board."
- 7 a printed circuit that can be inserted into expansion slots in a computer to increase the computer's capabilities wordnet
- 8 Short for blackboard, whiteboard, chessboard, surfboard, circuit board, message board (on the Internet), bulletin board, etc. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, uncountable
- 9 electrical device consisting of a flat insulated surface that contains switches and dials and meters for controlling other electrical devices wordnet
- 10 A committee that manages the business of an organization, e.g., a board of directors. countable, uncountable
"We have to wait to hear back from the board."
- 11 a table at which meals are served wordnet
- 12 Regular meals in a place of lodging; the price paid for them. uncountable
"board and lodging"
- 13 a vertical surface on which information can be displayed to public view wordnet
- 14 The side of a ship. countable, uncountable
"Now board to board the rival vessels row."
- 15 food or meals in general wordnet
- 16 The distance a sailing vessel runs between tacks when working to windward. countable, uncountable
- 17 a committee having supervisory powers wordnet
- 18 The wall that surrounds an ice hockey rink. countable, in-plural, often, uncountable
- 19 a stout length of sawn timber; made in a wide variety of sizes and used for many purposes wordnet
- 20 A long, narrow table, like that used in a medieval dining hall. archaic, countable, uncountable
"Fruit of all kinds […] / She gathers, tribute large, and on the board / Heaps with unsparing hand."
- 21 Paper made thick and stiff like a board, for book covers, etc.; pasteboard. countable, uncountable
"to bind a book in boards"
- 22 A level or stage having a particular two-dimensional layout. countable, uncountable
"The object of the game is to move the smiley face over the preset board, in doing so removing the green squares and ending up at the exit […]"
- 23 The portion of the playing field where creatures or minions can be placed (or played, summoned, etc.). countable, uncountable
- 24 A container for holding pre-dealt cards that is used to allow multiple sets of players to play the same cards. countable, uncountable
- 25 A provincial assembly or council. Philippines, countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To step or climb onto or otherwise enter a ship, aircraft, train or other conveyance. transitive
"It is time to board the aircraft."
- 2 provide food and lodging (for) wordnet
- 3 To provide someone with meals and lodging, usually in exchange for money. transitive
"to board one’s horse at a livery stable"
- 4 lodge and take meals (at) wordnet
- 5 To receive meals and lodging in exchange for money. transitive
"We are several of us, gentlemen and ladies, who board in the same house,"
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 get on board of (trains, buses, ships, aircraft, etc.) wordnet
- 7 To (at least attempt to) capture an enemy ship by going alongside and grappling her, then invading her with a boarding party. transitive
- 8 live and take one's meals at or in wordnet
- 9 To obtain meals, or meals and lodgings, statedly for compensation intransitive
- 10 To approach (someone); to make advances to, accost. archaic, transitive
"Ere long with like againe he boorded mee, / Saying, he now had boulted all the floure […]"
- 11 To cover with boards or boarding.
"to board a house"
- 12 To hit (someone) with a wooden board.
- 13 To write something on a board, especially a blackboard or whiteboard. transitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"The local school board would go to any length to ban that book."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "board"?
Common synonyms include: panel, plank, aboard, accommodate, accommodate, accommodation.
How do you use "board" in a sentence?
The local school board would go to any length to ban that book.
How do you pronounce "board"?
Pronounced /bɔːd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
A wooden board Board (duplicate bridge) From Middle English bord, from Old English bord, from Proto-West Germanic *bord, from Proto-Germanic *burdą (“board; plank; table”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerdʰ- (“to cut”). The senses "food" and "council" are by metonymy from the sense "table."
Etymology 2
From backboard.