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.

They dropped an apple on a string, or rapped their toes on a headboard, and the resulting knocking sounds fooled their mother into thinking it was a spirit.

From Literature

He fumbled for the call button that hung on the headboard and pushed it.

From Literature

I throw my pencil down in frustration and lean back so hard against my headboard that it smacks against the wall.

From Literature

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

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

From Los Angeles Times

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