placard
Americannoun
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a paperboard sign or notice, as one posted in a public place or carried by a demonstrator or picketer.
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Armor. placate.
verb (used with object)
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to display placards on or in.
The square was placarded by peace marchers.
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to publicize, announce, or advertise by means of placards.
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to post as a placard.
noun
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a printed or written notice for public display; poster
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a small plaque or card
verb
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to post placards on or in
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to publicize or advertise by placards
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to display as a placard
Other Word Forms
- placarder noun
Etymology
Origin of placard
Explanation
A placard is a sign, especially one that advertises something. You might get a summer job standing on the sidewalk, holding a placard that announces a mattress sale — though it may not be your dream job. A concert poster, a storefront notice, a protest sign carried in a rally — each of these is a type of placard. A placard can be as impermanent as a square of cardboard with a scrawled message, and as official as a permanent plaque marking a historic building. The Old French word plaquier is at the root of placard, and it means "to plaster or to lay flat."
Vocabulary lists containing placard
The Sun Is Also a Star
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Eats, Shoots & Leaves
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Johnny Tremain
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Thank you for your compassion and love towards everyone you cared for," read one placard, balanced among bouquets, wreaths and other tributes.
From Barron's • Jan. 26, 2026
"Free our president," read a placard held by a man with a red flannel shirt which bore the image of Maduro's predecessor and mentor, late socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez.
From Barron's • Jan. 5, 2026
Sometimes with a microphone, sometimes with a placard, if Mags was part of the mob, it got the press interested - and the media appearances kept coming.
From BBC • Aug. 7, 2025
A protester holds up a protect your mother Earth placard during the protest march on November 06, 2021 in Bristol, England.
From Salon • May 10, 2025
She merely preferred to go to Kavanagh s going-away lunch instead of standing in front of the university library holding a placard.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
