drawing board
Americannoun
idioms
-
back to the drawing board, back to the original or an earlier stage of planning or development.
Our plan didn't work out, so it's back to the drawing board.
-
on the drawing board, in the planning or design stage.
The shopping center is still on the drawing board.
noun
-
a smooth flat rectangular board on which paper, canvas, etc, is placed for making drawings
-
return to an earlier stage in an enterprise because a planned undertaking has failed
Etymology
Origin of drawing board
First recorded in 1715–25
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.
England, for all the improvements they have made, were sent rocketing back to the drawing board.
From BBC
“You didn’t do what we told you, so go back to the drawing board.”
From Salon
It also has been advancing with astonishing speed since Artemis left the drawing board.
Talk about going back to the drawing board.
Getting the new organisation off the drawing board will first require Wales to ask for new powers from the UK government and then pass legislation in the Senedd.
From BBC
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.
