blackboard

[ blak-bawrd, -bohrd ]

noun

1. a sheet of smooth, hard material, especially dark slate, used in schools, lecture rooms, etc., for writing or drawing on with chalk.

blackboard

/ ˈblækˌbɔːd /

noun

1. a hard or rigid surface made of a smooth usually dark substance, used for writing or drawing on with chalk, esp in teaching

Word History and Origins

Origin of blackboard¹

First recorded in 1815–25; black + board

Example Sentences

Our idea of a prank is, my best friend to this very day is a guy called Chris, and I just remember going round and what I’d do every morning is write on every whiteboard and blackboard, “I love Depeche Mode,” and sign it “Chris Little.”

From The Daily Beast

Throw out the chalk and blackboards, because there’s a new player in the world of education.

From Ozy

They gave me an office with a blackboard and said, “Do something interesting.”

From Quanta Magazine

Lagrangians, Poisson brackets, and Lorentz boosts were precious and delicate items, taken out of their boxes and presented to us in beautifully chalked equations on the blackboard.

From Nautilus

One female teaching assistant described writing on the blackboard while students “talked loudly about my butt.”

From No Straight News

Others cheated by taking crib sheets to the blackboard with them, concealing them from Jackson but not from the other students.

From The Daily Beast

There could be no more fitting companion for the Acadian chicken stew entree inscribed on a blackboard in the dining room.

From The Daily Beast

Notes were scrawled on a large white board, and “The Internet Association” was written in chalk on a blackboard.

From The Daily Beast

When gazpacho is on the blackboard menu at lunch, it's a must.

From The Daily Beast

In this clip, she heads to the blackboard and does her magic.

From The Daily Beast

Men of good taste, as well as those having tact and ingenuity, can and do use the blackboard with power in various ways.

From Project Gutenberg

When indisposed to lecture, they simply posted upon the blackboard: "Hodie non legitur," and this was the end of the matter.

From Project Gutenberg

The blackboard should be wiped with a damp cloth, in order to prevent the chalk from vitiating the air.

From Project Gutenberg

He drew five lines on the blackboard, and made eight dots that looked as 57though they were going upstairs on the lines.

From Project Gutenberg

When we came in from afternoon recess, there was the Sign, as big as life, drawn with chalk on the blackboard.

From Project Gutenberg