aboard
adverb
Simple meaning
On board; into or within a ship or boat.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhbawrdSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əˈbɔɹd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adverb
On board; into or within a ship or boat; hence, into or within a railway car.
On or onto a horse, a camel, etc.
Into a team, group, or company.
Part of a group
“Bill's been aboard for three years now.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: On board; into or within a ship or boat; hence, into or within a railway car.
'Aboard' is a charmingly specific word for being on or entering a mode of transport, particularly ships, trains, or planes. It feels more evocative than simply 'on' or 'inside' for these vehicles.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Train station announcement
“All passengers, please get aboard the northbound express.”
Cruise ship advertisement
“Imagine yourself aboard a luxurious ocean liner.”
Children's book
“The little animals were finally aboard the big ark.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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What Does It Mean Here?
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.