by the board

Board \Board\ (b[=o]rd), n. [OE. bord, AS. bord board,
   shipboard; akin to bred plank, Icel. bor[eth] board, side of
   a ship, Goth. f[=o]tu-baurd footstool, D. bord board, G.
   brett, bort. See def. 8. [root]92.]
   1. A piece of timber sawed thin, and of considerable length
      and breadth as compared with the thickness, -- used for
      building, etc.
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   Note: When sawed thick, as over one and a half or two inches,
         it is usually called a plank.
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   2. A table to put food upon.
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   Note: The term board answers to the modern table, but it was
         often movable, and placed on trestles. --Halliwell.
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               Fruit of all kinds . . .
               She gathers, tribute large, and on the board
               Heaps with unsparing hand.         --Milton.
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   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.
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   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.
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            Both better acquainted with affairs than any other
            who sat then at that board.           --Clarendon.
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            We may judge from their letters to the board.
                                                  --Porteus.
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   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.
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   6. Paper made thick and stiff like a board, for book covers,
      etc.; pasteboard; as, to bind a book in boards.
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   7. pl. The stage in a theater; as, to go upon the boards, to
      enter upon the theatrical profession.
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   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.
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   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.
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   {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.]
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