Board, v. t. [imp. & p. p.
Boarded; p. pr. & vb. n. Boarding.]
1. To cover with boards or boarding; as, to
board a house. "The boarded hovel." Cowper.
2. [Cf. Board to accost, and see Board,
n.] To go on board of, or enter, as a ship, whether
in a hostile or a friendly way.
You board an enemy to capture her, and a stranger to
receive news or make a communication.
Totten.
3. To enter, as a railway car. [Colloq. U.
S.]
4. To furnish with regular meals, or with meals and
lodgings, for compensation; to supply with daily meals.
5. To place at board, for compensation; as, to
board one's horse at a livery stable.
Board (bōrd), n. [OE. bord, AS.
bord board, shipboard; akin to bred plank, Icel.
borð board, side of a ship, Goth. fōtu-baurd
footstool, D. bord board, G. brett, bort. See def. 8.
√92.] 1. A piece of timber sawed thin, and of
considerable length and breadth as compared with the thickness, -- used for
building, etc.
☞ When sawed thick, as over one and a half or two inches, it is
usually called a plank.
2. A table to put food upon.
☞ The term board answers to the modern table, but it
was often movable, and placed on trestles. Halliwell.
Fruit of all kinds . . .
She gathers, tribute large, and on the board
Heaps with unsparing hand.
Milton.
3. Hence: What is served on a table as food; stated
meals; provision; entertainment; -- usually as furnished for pay; as, to
work for one's board; the price of board.
4. A table at which a council or court is held.
Hence: A council, convened for business, or any authorized assembly or
meeting, public or private; a number of persons appointed or elected to sit
in council for the management or direction of some public or private
business or trust; as, the Board of Admiralty; a board of
trade; a board of directors, trustees, commissioners, etc.
Both better acquainted with affairs than any other who sat
then at that board.
Clarendon.
We may judge from their letters to the board.
Porteus.
5. A square or oblong piece of thin wood or other
material used for some special purpose, as, a molding board; a board
or surface painted or arranged for a game; as, a chessboard; a
backgammon board.
6. Paper made thick and stiff like a board, for
book covers, etc.; pasteboard; as, to bind a book in
boards.
7. pl. The stage in a theater; as, to go
upon the boards, to enter upon the theatrical profession.
8. [In this use originally perh. a different word
meaning border, margin; cf. D. boord, G. bord,
shipboard, and G. borte trimming; also F. bord (fr. G.) the
side of a ship. Cf. Border.] The border or side of
anything. (Naut.) (a) The side of a
ship. "Now board to board the rival vessels row."
Dryden. See On board, below. (b) The
stretch which a ship makes in one tack.
☞ Board is much used adjectively or as the last part of a
compound; as, fir board, clapboard, floor board,
shipboard, sideboard, ironing board,
chessboard, cardboard, pasteboard, seaboard;
board measure.
The American Board, a shortened form of "The
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions" (the foreign
missionary society of the American Congregational churches). --
Bed and board. See under Bed. --
Board and board (Naut.), side by side. --
Board of control, six privy councilors formerly
appointed to superintend the affairs of the British East Indies.
Stormonth. -- Board rule, a figured scale for
finding without calculation the number of square feet in a board.
Haldeman. -- Board of trade, in England, a
committee of the privy council appointed to superintend matters relating to
trade. In the United States, a body of men appointed for the advancement
and protection of their business interests; a chamber of commerce. --
Board wages. (a) Food and lodging
supplied as compensation for services; as, to work hard, and get only
board wages. (b) Money wages which are
barely sufficient to buy food and lodging. (c) A
separate or special allowance of wages for the procurement of food, or food
and lodging. Dryden. -- By the board,
over the board, or side. "The mast went by the
board." Totten. Hence (Fig.), To go by the
board, to suffer complete destruction or overthrow. --
To enter on the boards, to have one's name inscribed
on a board or tablet in a college as a student. [Cambridge, England.]
"Having been entered on the boards of Trinity college."
Hallam. -- To make a good board (Naut.),
to sail in a straight line when close-hauled; to lose little to
leeward. -- To make short boards, to tack
frequently. -- On board. (a) On
shipboard; in a ship or a boat; on board of; as, I came on board
early; to be on board ship. (b) In or into
a railway car or train. [Colloq. U. S.] -- Returning
board, a board empowered to canvass and make an official
statement of the votes cast at an election. [U.S.]