1. One of a series of boards nailed horizontally, with overlapping edges, as an outside covering for walls. Also collect. sing.
1539–40. in Swayne, Churchw. Acc. Sarum (1896), 268. C fowt of whether borde to whetherborde the howes end.
1759. Phil. Trans., LI. 287. Some of the weather-boards were thrown outwards to the bottom of the garden.
1802. Barrington’s Hist. N. S. Wales, x. 420. The stores were of brick, and the guard-house of weather-boards.
1845. J. O. Balfour, Sk. N. S. Wales, 87. Settlers … have, according to their means, built of free-stone, brick, or weather-boards, cottages and houses.
1883. Sladen, Austral. Lyrics, 25.
| How one Chinese was speared and the other, sore-dinted, | |
| Scarcely crawled to the sheltering weatherboards. |
1890. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Miner’s Right, vi. 61. The more ambitious buildings are of weather-board, sawn pine or hardwood boards, roofed with large sheets of galvanized iron.
attrib. 1894. A. Robertson, Nuggets, etc. 173. The weatherboard walls creaked and groaned like a ship’s timbers in a gale.
b. A board laid over builders’ work or material as a protection.
1851. B’ham & Midl. Gardeners’ Mag., April, 30. Every heap [sc. of quick lime] being covered by mats or weatherboards.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., I. 195. Unfinished walls should be covered with straw, on which boards, called weatherboards, should be laid.
2. A board placed sloping over a window or other opening to throw off or keep out rain; † pl. louver-boards; also, a board used to carry off water.
1568. Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden), 128. ij bordes to make wether bordes for the windowes in the steple. Ibid. (1569), 138. iij bordes … ffor wetherbordes in the steple windowes.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 210/2. Deliquiæ,… water boords, or weather bordes; gutters whereinto the house eaues doe drop.
1598. Hakluyt, Voy., I. 577. The Cathedrall Church of Holen hauing … also beames and weather-bourdes, and the rest of the roofe proportionally answering to this lower building.
1741. Phil. Trans., XLI. 498. A great Number of large Holes, regularly placed,… with Weather-boards placed over each Range of Holes, so as to hang over them obliquely downwards.
1818. Moore, Fudge Fam. Paris, iii. 80.
| Such hats!—fit for monkies—I’d back Mrs. DRAPER | |
| To cut neater weather-boards out of brown paper. |
1833. T. Hook, Love & Pride, Marquess, xii. Rattle went all the windows—slap went the weather boards [of an omnibus].
1892. Dict. Arch. (Archit. Publ. Soc.), Weather board, a board fixed … at the bottom of a door or window, to keep out driving rain.
b. Naut. (See quots.)
1760–72. trans. Juan & Ulloa’s Voy. (ed. 3), II. 304. On the 30th we took down our weather-boards.
1815. Falconer’s Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), Weather-Boards are pieces of plank placed in the ports of a ship, when laid up in ordinary; they are fixed in an inclined position, so as to turn off the rain without preventing the circulation of the air.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk.
1908. Paasch, From Keel to Truck (ed. 4), 546. Weather-boards. A collection of boards fitted closely together and erected in front, or on the sides of a bridge, poop or raised-quarter-deck.
3. Naut. [See WEATHER sb. 8 and BOARD sb. 12. Cf. Icel. veðr-borð.] The windward side of a ship.
a. 1625. Manwayring, Sea-mans Dict. (1644), 12. The weather-boord, that is as much as to say, to windward.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey).
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk.
Hence Weatherboard v. trans., to nail weatherboards upon (a wall or roof); also absol. Weatherboarded ppl. a. Weatherboarding vbl. sb., the work of covering a building with weatherboards; also concr., weatherboards collectively.
1515. in Compotus Rolls Obedientiaries St Swithun’s, Winch. (1892), 461. Et in solutis duobus carpentariis conductis ad wetherbordandum finem coquinæ.
1535–6. Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 370. Paid ffor viij c di. of borde ffor to wederborde the sowth side of wolston wynnys howse.
1613. S’hampton Crt. Leet Rec. (1905), 464. The Towne howse now in the tenure of Thomas beare … would requier to be weather-boorded.
1632. in E. B. Jupp, Carpenters’ Co. (1887), 300. The boarding and weatherboarding of howses shedds and hovells.
1703. [R. Neve], City & C. Purchaser, 285. Weather-boarding … is us’d to signifie the Boards themselves, when nail’d up.
1737. W. Salmon, Country Builder’s Estimator (ed. 2), 16. To build a Barn with all new Oak-Timber, to thatch, underpin, and weather-board with Feather-edged Deals.
1796. W. H. Marshall, W. Eng., II. 211. Farm houses … with weatherboarded barns.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., I. 48. The outside covered over with strong weather-boarding.
1847. J. D. Lang, Phillipsland, 283. It is a neat, comfortable, weather-boarded cottage.
1885. Frederick Daniel, in Harper’s Mag., March, 606/1. A slight superstructure, clad in narrow strips of weather-boarding.
