board

Less common meanings

10. 10
    verbtransitive

    To cover something with boards or boarding.

    The abandoned factory had been boarded over years ago, and the plywood on its windows was now covered in graffiti.

    Before the hurricane arrived, neighbors helped each other board their windows with sheets of plywood.

    UsageOften board up or board over: boarded-up windows.

    Similarshutter, barricade, cover

    Note

    Covering with planks, and often seen in the result rather than the act: William Cowper writes of "the boarded hovel" in The Task, a building cased in boards. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • William Cowper uses the exact phrase ‘the boarded hovel’ in The Task. gutenberg.org
    • ‘Boarded’ in Cowper’s phrase means covered or cased in boards. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    nouncountable or uncountable

    A panel containing electrical switches and other controls, used to manage lights, sound, telephone connections, and the like.

    The lighting board controls every spotlight in the theater.

    An operator at the board routed calls across the whole town.

    Similarconsole, panel, switchboard

12. 12
    rink wallnouncountable or uncountableplural

    The barrier that encloses the ice surface of a hockey rink on all sides.

    A clean hit sent him into the boards, and the crowd behind the glass roared its approval.

    He was checked hard into the boards in the second period and left the game with a sore shoulder.

    UsageUsually the boards: the puck came off the boards, battling along the boards.

    Similarwall

    Note

    The rink's wall is usually spoken of in the plural: the puck rings off the boards, a player is pinned along the boards. Built of rigid panels topped with protective glass, it is part of the game rather than its edge, since play continues off its surface. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The rink enclosure consists of solid panels. blob.iihf.com
    • Protective glass forms part of the rink enclosure above the boards. chicagowolves.com
    • The boards can be used to play the puck, which remains in play after rebounding from them. en.wikipedia.org
13. 13
    noun

    A theater's stage, and by extension a career acting in plays; used in the plural form the boards.

    The veteran actor returned to the boards for a limited run on Broadway.

    She spent a decade treading the boards before landing her first TV role.

    UsageCommon in tread the boards, meaning to act on stage, and return to the boards.

    Similarstage

14. 14
    hit with woodverbtransitive

    To strike someone with a wooden board or plank.
15. 15
    nounarchaiccountable or uncountable

    Either side of a ship's hull.

    Now board to board the rival vessels row.

    1697, Virgil, “The Fifth Book of the Æneis”

    Note

    Here the word means the ship's own flank, the side that faces the water or another vessel. Dryden's translation of Virgil (1697) gives the classic picture: "Now board to board the rival vessels row," two ships racing side by side. The doubled phrase board to board is the clearest way to hear the sense, and it marks the closeness that a boarding attack depends on. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Dryden's translation of Virgil containing this passage was first published in 1697. uflib.ufl.edu
    • Dryden's translation contains the quoted line. gutenberg.org
    • The passage depicts competing vessels rowing side by side in a race. Physical contact between their hulls is not stated; interpreting the passage as ships pressed together overstates it. gutenberg.org
    • A boarding attack can depend on bringing vessels close alongside one another. en.wikipedia.org
16. 16
    tablenounarchaiccountable or uncountable

    A long, narrow table, such as those used in a medieval dining hall.

    “Take your seat at my board, and let me drink to your health.”

    1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”

    Túrin took a seat without heed, for he was wayworn, and filled with thought; and by ill-luck he set himself at a board among the elders of the realm, and in that place where Saeros was accustomed to sit.

    2007, J. R. R. Tolkien edited by Christopher Tolkien, The Children of Húrin

    Note

    Archaic now, yet writers still set it out whenever they want the old hall back. Milton heaps fruit "on the board" in Paradise Lost (1667), Algernon Blackwood gathers Christmas parties "round the festive board" (1890), and Tolkien's The Children of Húrin (2007) seats Túrin "at a board among the elders". Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • Milton uses "on the board" while describing fruit being heaped in Paradise Lost, Book V. en.wikisource.org
    • Paradise Lost was first published in 1667. en.wikipedia.org
    • Algernon Blackwood describes Christmas parties meeting "round the festive board". en.wikisource.org
    • Blackwood's quoted passage dates to 1890, in Christmas in England. en.wiktionary.org
    • Tolkien's The Children of Húrin was published in 2007. tolkienestate.com
    • The Children of Húrin places Túrin "at a board among the elders". en.wiktionary.org
17. 17
    approachverbarchaictransitive

    To approach someone; to make advances toward or accost a person.

    Note

    Here the boarding is done to a person rather than a vessel: you come up to someone, speak first, and often have designs on them. Spenser uses it in The Faerie Queene (1590): "Ere long with like againe he boorded mee." The image borrows from boarding an enemy ship, drawing alongside before closing in. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Board can mean to approach or address a person. gutenberg.org
    • Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene, whose first three books were first published in 1590. en.wikisource.org
    • The quoted wording occurs in The Faerie Queene, Book II, Canto IV, stanza 24, in Phaon's account. en.wikisource.org
    • The personal sense is a metaphor from boarding a ship in combat. upload.wikimedia.org
18. 18
    verbtransitive

    To provide lodging and food for someone else's pet or other animal, as a kennel or stable does, usually in exchange for payment.

    Many kennels board dogs over the holidays, so it pays to book a space early.

    Her horse is boarded at a stable a few miles outside town, where the staff feed him and turn him out each day.

    UsageOften passive, is boarded at a stable; the business is a boarding kennel or boarding stable.

    Similarhouse, keep, lodge

    Note

    The lodging sense, applied to animals instead of people. Board came to mean a table, then the meals served at it, which is why a kennel that boards a dog feeds it as well as housing it, just as a household boards a paying lodger. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The meaning developed from a table to the food served at it. en.wiktionary.org
19. 19
    verb

    To put text or figures up on a board, typically a blackboard or whiteboard, for others to read.
20. 20
    noun

    A level or stage in a game that has a particular two-dimensional layout.
21. 21
    noun

    In bridge, a container holding a pre-dealt set of cards, allowing several groups of players to play the identical hands.
22. 22
    noun

    The distance a sailing vessel covers on a single tack while working to windward.