board

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 ]