Word: board Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Board (duplicate bridge) From Middle English boord, boorde, bord, bourd, burd, from Old English bord, from Proto-West Germanic *bord, from Proto-Germanic *burdą (“board, plank; edge; table”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰers- (“tip, top”) + *-dʰeti or *bʰerH- (“to pierce; to strike”) + *-dʰeti. The senses "food" and "council" are by metonymy from the sense "table". Cognates Cognate with Scots buird (“board; table”), Yola borde (“table”), West Frisian boerd (“board”), Dutch bord (“dish, plate; board, plank; sign”), boord (“border, boundary; bank, shore”), German Bord (“shelf”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish bord (“plank; table”), Elfdalian buord (“table”), Faroese and Icelandic borð (“board, plank; table”), Gothic *𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌳 (*baurd, “board, plank”) (whence 𐍆𐍉𐍄𐌿𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌳 (fōtubaurd, “footstool”). Pronunciation: /bɔːd/, /boːd/, /bɔɹd/, /boɾd/, [boːɾd] 1. A relatively long, wide and thin piece of any material, usually wood or similar, often for use in construction or furniture-making. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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 device (e.g., switchboard) containing electrical switches and other controls and designed to control lights, sound, telephone connections, etc. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. A flat surface with markings for playing a board game. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Each player starts the game with four counters on the board. 4. Short for blackboard, whiteboard, chessboard, surfboard, circuit board, message board (on the Internet), bulletin board, etc. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, uncountable 5. A committee that manages the business of an organization, e.g., a board of directors. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: We have to wait to hear back from the board. 6. Regular meals in a place of lodging; the price paid for them. Labels: uncountable Example: board and lodging Example: room and board 7. The side of a ship. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Now board to board the rival vessels row. 8. The distance a sailing vessel runs between tacks when working to windward. Labels: countable, uncountable 9. The wall that surrounds an ice hockey rink. Labels: countable, in-plural, often, uncountable 10. A long, narrow table, like that used in a medieval dining hall. Labels: archaic, countable, uncountable Example: Fruit of all kinds […] / She gathers, tribute large, and on the board / Heaps with unsparing hand. Example: 1890, Algernon Blackwood, Christmas in England, Methodist Magazine Volume 32 pg 481. The real beginning of the festivities is on Christmas-eve, when the large parties meet their friends from far and near round the festive board. 11. Paper made thick and stiff like a board, for book covers, etc.; pasteboard. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: to bind a book in boards 12. A level or stage having a particular two-dimensional layout. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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 […] Example: You are able to then change a color candy with any candy around the board, similar to the way you are able to with color bomb candies. 13. The portion of the playing field where creatures or minions can be placed (or played, summoned, etc.). Labels: countable, uncountable 14. A container for holding pre-dealt cards that is used to allow multiple sets of players to play the same cards. Labels: countable, uncountable 15. A Philippine provincial or Uruguayan departmental assembly or council. Labels: countable, uncountable