board

*flat as a board and *flat as a pancake

Cliché very flat. (Also used to describe someone's chest or abdomen, referring to well-developed abdominal muscles or small or nearly absent breasts or pectoral muscles-in either sex. *Also: as ~.) Jane was flat as a board until she was sixteen, when she suddenly blossomed. Lucy can mash an aluminum can flat as a pancake with one blow from her heel.

See also: flat

across the board

Fig. [distributed] equally for everyone or everything. The school board raised the pay of all the teachers across the board.

See also: across

back to the drawing board

Fig. time to start from the start; it is time to plan something over again. (Plans or schematics are drawn on a drawing board. Note the variations shown in the examples.) It didn't work. Back to the drawing board. I flunked English this semester. Well, back to the old drawing board.

See also: back, drawing

board (someone or an animal) out

to send someone or an animal away to live, temporarily. (Usually said of a school-age child or a pet.) They decided to board Billy out. They boarded out the dog while they were on vacation.

See also: out

board something up

to enclose or seal a building or part of a building with boards or panels. We will have to board this house up if we can't sell it. Should I board up the house while I am away that season?

See also: up

board with someone

to live with someone temporarily, usually while paying to do so. I will board with my aunt when I go to school in Adamsville. I do not wish to board with relatives.

go back to the drawing board

Fig. to return to the planning stage, so that a failed project can be planned again. These plans have to go back to the drawing board. I thought these problems went back to the drawing board once already.

See also: back, drawing

go by the board

Fig. to get ruined or lost. (This is originally a nautical expression meaning "to fall or be washed overboard.") I hate to see good food go by the board. Please eat up so we won't have to throw it out. Your plan has gone by the board. The entire project has been canceled.

on board 

1. Lit. aboard (on or in) a ship, bus, airplane, etc. Is there a doctor on board? We have a sick passenger. When everyone is on board, we will leave.

2. Fig. employed by someone; working with someone. Our company has a computer specialist on board to advise us about the latest technology. Welcome to the company, Tom. We're all glad you're on board now.

room and board

food to eat and a place to live; the cost of food and lodging. That college charges too much for room and board. How much is your room and board?

See also: and, room

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across the board

if something is done, happens, or exists across the board, it is done, happens, or exists in every part or area of something The company is proposing to cut spending right across the board. Even as late as September, there are still course vacancies across the board, although the majority are in sciences.

See also: across

back to the drawing board

if you go back to the drawing board, you have to start planning a piece of work again because the previous plan failed If the education reform is too expensive to implement, it's back to the drawing board for the committee. Our proposal might not be accepted, in which case we'll have to go back to the drawing board.

See also: back, drawing

be above board

to be honest and legal The deal was completely above board.

See also: above

be as stiff as a board 

1. to be very stiff It's so cold out there - the washing was as stiff as a board when I brought it in off the line.

2. if you are as stiff as a board, your body feels stiff and hurts when you try to move it, usually after a lot of physical exercise I cycled fifty miles yesterday and when I woke this morning I was as stiff as a board.

See Hard cheddar!, Hard cheese!, be as stiff as a ramrod

See also: stiff

go by the board  (British, American & Australian) also go by the boards (American)

if something that has been planned or arranged goes by the board, it does not happen, and if something that exists goes by the board, it ends All our careful arrangements went by the board when the trip was cancelled at the last minute. When modern machinery was introduced, old-fashioned printing methods went by the board.

on board

if someone is on board, they are working with an organization or group of people A new financial director has been brought on board to help us assess the cost of the project. We hope to have a new doctor on board by the end of the month.

sweep the board  (British)

to win all the prizes or votes in a competition or an election Her latest film swept the boards at last night's cinema awards. The liberals look set to sweep the board in the local elections.

See also: sweep

take on board something

to understand and accept ideas and opinions which may change the way you behave in the future Banks need to take on board the views of their customers. It seems that young people are finally taking on board the message that it's not cool to smoke.

See sweep the board

See also: take

tread the boards

to act in the theatre So you're treading the boards these days, Emma. Earning any money?

See also: tread

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across the board

including all parts of something The new law reduces taxes on products across the board, from wheat to cars to cell phones.

See also: across

go back to the drawing board

to start something again because the previous attempt failed Researchers went back to the drawing board to find where they went wrong.

Usage notes: sometimes used without go: When we thought we were finished, he sent us back to the drawing board and asked us to completely redo it.

Related vocabulary: back to square one

See also: back, drawing

go by the board

to stop existing Alsop complained that the world he knew as a young man had gone by the board.

Usage notes: also used in the form go by the boards

on board

1. supporting something While most of us might be OK about interracial dating, some people aren't on board with the notion.

2. working with someone It's a well-financed organization, and it has some well-known people on board.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of on board (on an aircraft, train, or ship)