n.; pl. Boas. [ L. boa a kind of water serpent. Perh. fr. bos an ox. ] 1. (Zool.) A genus of large American serpents, including the boa constrictor, the emperor boa of Mexico (Boa imperator), and the chevalier boa of Peru (Boa eques). [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The name is also applied to related genera; as, the dog-headed boa (Xiphosoma caninum). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A long, round fur tippet; -- so called from its resemblance in shape to the boa constrictor. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ NL. See Boa, and Constrictor. ] (Zool.) A large and powerful serpent of tropical America, sometimes twenty or thirty feet long. See Illustration in Appendix. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It has a succession of spots, alternately black and yellow, extending along the back. It kills its prey by constriction. The name is also loosely applied to other large serpents which crush their prey, particularly to those of the genus Python, found in Asia and Africa. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ Gr. &unr_;, fr. Heb. bnē hargem sons of thunder. -- an appellation given by Christ to two of his disciples (James and John). See Mark iii. 17. ] Any declamatory and vociferous preacher or orator. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bar, bor, bore, AS. bār; akin to OHG. pēr, MHG. bēr, G. bär, boar (but not bär bear), and perh. Russ. borov' boar. ] (Zool.) The uncastrated male of swine; specifically, the wild hog. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To obtain meals, or meals and lodgings, statedly for compensation; as, he boards at the hotel. [ 1913 Webster ]

We are several of us, gentlemen and ladies, who board in the same house. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ F. aborder. See Abord, v. t. ] To approach; to accost; to address; hence, to woo. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I will board her, though she chide as loud
As thunder when the clouds in autumn crack. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

You board an enemy to capture her, and a stranger to receive news or make a communication. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To enter, as a railway car. [ Colloq. U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To furnish with regular meals, or with meals and lodgings, for compensation; to supply with daily meals. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To place at board, for compensation; as, to board one's horse at a livery stable. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ When sawed thick, as over one and a half or two inches, it is usually called a plank. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A table to put food upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The term board answers to the modern table, but it was often movable, and placed on trestles. Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fruit of all kinds . . .
She gathers, tribute large, and on the board
Heaps with unsparing hand. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Both better acquainted with affairs than any other who sat then at that board. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

We may judge from their letters to the board. Porteus. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Paper made thick and stiff like a board, for book covers, etc.; pasteboard; as, to bind a book in boards. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. pl. The stage in a theater; as, to go upon the boards, to enter upon the theatrical profession. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That can be boarded, as a ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who has food statedly at another's table, or meals and lodgings in his house, for pay, or compensation of any kind. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) One who boards a ship; one selected to board an enemy's ship. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]