verb (military).—1. To borrow.
2. (nautical).—To accost; to address; to ask of; to make a demand; i.e., to come to close quarters.
1547. EARL SURREY, Æneid, IV., 395. At length her self bordeth Aeneas thus.
1596. SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet, ii. 2. [Enter HAMLET, reading.] Queen. But look, where sadly the poor wretch comes reading. Pol. … I’ll BOARD him presently:—O, give me leave.
1672–1726. VANBRUGH, The False Friend, I., i., 97. What do you expect from BOARDING a woman … already heart and soul engaged to another.
1867. W. H. SMYTH, Sailor’s Word-Book. BOARD HIM, a colloquialism for I’ll ask, demand, or accost him.
See BORD.
TO BOARD IN THE SMOKE, phr. (nautical).—To take one unawares, or by surprise; in the midst of a naval fight boarding operations were often successfully carried out under cover of the smoke from a broadside.
ON THE BOARD phr. (tailors’).—Enjoying all the privileges and emoluments of a competent workman: when an apprentice becomes a regular journeyman he goes ‘ON THE BOARD.’
1877. W. H. THOMSON, Five Years’ Penal Servitude, iii. 146. During the term of his imprisonment he became an excellent working tailor, and was ‘ON THE BOARD,’ as it is termed, among those who are efficient hands.
TO KEEP ONE’S NAME ON THE BOARD, phr. (Cambridge University).—To remain a member of a College.
TO SWEEP THE BOARD, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To pocket all the stakes.
TO BEGIN THE BOARD, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To take precedence.
TO GO BY THE BOARD, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To go for ‘good and all’; be completely done for; to be ruined.
TO SAIL ON ANOTHER BOARD, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To change one’s tactics.
