boards
noun
Form of board , plural of board.
Simple meaning
The stage of a theater.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bawrdzIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɔɹdz
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.
noun
informalwith "the"used in the plural
The stage of a theater
“Most actors love to stride the boards.”
informalwith "the"
A stage (as in a theater).
used in the plural
The boarding that surrounds an ice hockey rink
Structure around a rink for ice hockey.
Examinations given for entry to college or to qualify for a profession.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (used in the plural) the stage of a theater
Used this way, boards is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
“Most actors love to stride the boards.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use boards
- “Most actors love to stride the boards.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A committee having supervisory powers.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A tenant in someone's house.
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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.