Big Board

American  

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

1. the New York Stock Exchange.

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Big Board British  

noun

1. the quotation board in the New York Stock Exchange

2. the New York Stock Exchange

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big board Cultural  

1. The huge electronic board at the New York Stock Exchange that reports the changing values of stocks traded on the exchange.

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The term is used sometimes to mean the New York Stock Exchange itself.

Etymology

Origin of Big Board

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25

Example Sentences

The Western Railroad of Massachusetts reported that 2,331 individuals owned shares in 1838, and the Pennsylvania topped 2,600, Robert Sobol writes in The Big Board External link: A History of the New York Stock Market.

From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026

“Business finally awoke to the potential of such devices,” writes historian Robert Sobel in “The Big Board: A History of the New York Stock Market.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 28, 2025

The Big Board said it would reverse some trades and let member firms request compensation for losses tied to the problem, though undoing some transactions could affect sales on other exchanges.

From New York Times • Jan. 25, 2023

“The Big Board should have never been subjected to these lawless orders in the first place,” said Buckeye Institute President and CEO Robert Alt, one of the attorneys who represented the tavern in court.

From Washington Times • Oct. 12, 2022

The same general idea appears in The Big Board by Kilgore Trout.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

Related Words

• exchange