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noun Board n. 1.A piece of timber sawed thin, and of considerable length and breadth as compared with the thickness, used for building, etc. Note: 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. Note: The term board answers to the modern table, but it was often movable, and placed on trestles. "Fruit of all kinds... She gathers, tribute large, and on the board Heaps with unsparing hand." 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." "We may judge from their letters to the board." 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.The border or side of anything. (Naut.) (a)The side of a ship. "Now board to board the rival vessels row." See On board, below. (b)The stretch which a ship makes in one tack. Note: 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. Board rule, a figured scale for finding without calculation the number of square feet in a board. 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. By the board, over the board, or side. "The mast went by the board." 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." 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.)
preposition On prep. The general signification of on is situation, motion, or condition with respect to contact or support beneath; as: 1.At, or in contact with, the surface or upper part of a thing, and supported by it; placed or lying in contact with the surface; as, the book lies on the table, which stands on the floor of a house on an island. "I stood on the bridge at midnight." 2.To or against the surface of; used to indicate the motion of a thing as coming or falling to the surface of another; as, rain falls on the earth. "Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken." 3.Denoting performance or action by contact with the surface, upper part, or outside of anything; hence, by means of; with; as, to play on a violin or piano. Hence, figuratively, to work on one's feelings; to make an impression on the mind. 4.At or near; adjacent to; indicating situation, place, or position; as, on the one hand, on the other hand; the fleet is on the American coast. 5.In addition to; besides; indicating multiplication or succession in a series; as, heaps on heaps; mischief on mischief; loss on loss; thought on thought. 6.Indicating dependence or reliance; with confidence in; as, to depend on a person for assistance; to rely on; hence, indicating the ground or support of anything; as, he will promise on certain conditions; to bet on a horse; based on certain assumptions. 7.At or in the time of; during; as, on Sunday we abstain from labor. See At (synonym). 8.At the time of; often conveying some notion of cause or motive; as, on public occasions, the officers appear in full dress or uniform; the shop is closed on Sundays. Hence, In consequence of, or following; as, on the ratification of the treaty, the armies were disbanded; start on the count of three. 9.Toward; for; indicating the object of some passion; as, have pity or compassion on him. 10.At the peril of, or for the safety of. "Hence, on thy life." 11.By virtue of; with the pledge of; denoting a pledge or engagement, and put before the thing pledged; as, he affirmed or promised on his word, or on his honor. 12.To the account of; denoting imprecation or invocation, or coming to, falling, or resting upon; as, on us be all the blame; a curse on him. "His blood be on us and on our children." 13.In reference or relation to; as, on our part expect punctuality; a satire on society. 14.Of. (Obs.) "Be not jealous on me." "Or have we eaten on the insane root That takes the reason prisoner?" Note: Instances of this usage are common in our older writers, and are sometimes now heard in illiterate speech. 15.Occupied with; in the performance of; as, only three officers are on duty; on a journey; on the job; on an assignment; on a case; on the alert. 16.In the service of; connected with; a member of; as, he is on a newspaper; on a committee. Note: On and upon are in general interchangeable. In some applications upon is more euphonious, and is therefore to be preferred; but in most cases on is preferable. 17.In reference to; about; concerning; as, to think on it; to meditate on it. On a bowline. (Naut.) Same as Closehauled. On a wind, or On the wind (Naut.), sailing closehauled. On a sudden. See under Sudden. On board, On draught, On fire, etc. See under Board, Draught, Fire, etc. On it, On't, of it. (Obs. or Colloq.) On shore, on land; to the shore. On the road, On the way, On the wing, etc. See under Road, Way, etc. On to, upon; on; to; sometimes written as one word, onto, and usually called a colloquialism; but it may be regarded in analogy with into. "They have added the -en plural form on to an elder plural." "We see the strength of the new movement in the new class of ecclesiastics whom it forced on to the stage."
Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48
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