Definition of: board

(bôrd, bōrd) noun
1. A flat piece of wood whose length is much greater than its width.
2. A table, spread for serving food; the food served.
3. Meals regularly furnished for pay.
4. An organized official body: a board of directors; also, a table at which the sessions of a council are held.
5. plural The stage of a theater.
6. Pasteboard; a pasteboard bookcover.
7. A thin slab of wood, cardboard, or the like for a specific purpose: a chessboard.
8. Naut. a The deck or side of a vessel: on board. b The course followed by a vessel while tacking.
9. A wooden rack in the box office of a theater containing tickets: sometimes arranged according to the seating plan.
10. A bulletin board for notices of rehearsals.
11. Telecom. The control panel connected with all the microphones on a radio broadcast, and operated by the engineer in the control room.
12. The wooden enclosure of a hockey rink.
—binder's board Board used by bookbinders; a single-ply pasteboard made from a base stock of kiln- or plate-dried mixed papers and ranging in thickness from .03 to .30 of an inch.
—on board On or in a vessel; also, on or in a conveyance: He jumped on board the train.
—to go by the board
1. To go over the ship's side: said of a mast broken off short.
2. To go to utter wreck or ruin.
—to tread the boards To appear as an actor.
—v.t.
1. To cover or enclose with boards.
2. To furnish with meals or meals and lodging for pay.
3. To place (someone) where meals are provided, as in a boarding school.
4. Naut. To come alongside or go on board of (a ship), usually for hostile purposes.
5. To enter, as a ship or train.
6. Obs. To approach; accost.
—v.i.
7. To take meals or meals and lodging.
8. Naut. To tack. [OE bord]