a board
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
A council which sits at a board or table; as "Board of Directors," "Board of Guardians," "School Board," "Board of Trade," etc.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “a board” mean?
A council which sits at a board or table; as "Board of Directors," "Board of Guardians," "School Board," "Board of Trade," etc.
Is “a board” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.