headboard

American

[hed-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈhɛdˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

a board forming the head heads of anything, especially of a bed.

headboard British

/ ˈhɛdˌbɔːd /

noun

a vertical board or terminal at the head of a bed

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of headboard

First recorded in 1720–30; head + board

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.

His niece, the daughter of Ms Nazarova, was also in the house and had to be rescued by firefighters after a headboard was placed to block her door.

From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026

“It hung from the ceiling of my restaurant for years. Then it was my headboard and now it’s here.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2025

That time spent getting the headboard, for example, was frankly spent in a sort of grim fugue state, wordlessly drifting from place to place in exhausted resignation.

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2025

The bed in Nancy Gerrish’s bright Los Feliz home appears perfectly normal — carved wooden headboard, fuzzy brown blanket, cream-colored bed skirt.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2024

No blanket, no stuffed animals, no drawers below, no patterns, no candles, no headboard.

From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023