aboard

See also: A board

English

Etymology

From Middle English abord, from a- (on) + bord (board, side of a ship); equivalent to a- +‎ board.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /əˈbɔːd/
  • (US) IPA(key): /əˈbɔɹd/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)d

Adverb

aboard (not comparable)

  1. On board; into or within a ship or boat; hence, into or within a railway car. [from ca. 1350—1470][1]
    We all climbed aboard.
    • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
      As the 1857 to Manchester Piccadilly rolls in, I scan the windows and realise there are plenty of spare seats, so I hop aboard. The train is a '221'+'220' combo to allow for social distancing - a luxury on an XC train as normally you're playing sardines, so I make the most of it.
    • 2025 January 27, Alayna Treene, Pamela Brown, Haley Britzky and Oren Liebermann, “Trump signs executive orders to reshape the military, including banning transgender troops”, in CNN[1]:
      Trump said he signed the executive orders while aboard Air Force One on a return flight to Washington from Florida.
  2. On or onto a horse, a camel, etc. [from late 19th c.][1]
    to sling a saddle aboard
  3. (baseball) On base. [from mid-20th c.][1]
    He doubled with two men aboard, scoring them both.
  4. Into a team, group, or company. [from mid-20th c.][1]
    The office manager welcomed him aboard.
  5. (nautical) Alongside. [from ca. 1350—1470][1]
    The ships came close aboard to pass messages.
    The captain laid his ship aboard the enemy's ship.

Derived terms

Translations

Preposition

aboard

  1. On board of; onto or into a ship, boat, train, plane. [from ca. 1350—1470][1]
    We all went aboard the ship.
    • 2012 March, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist[2], volume 100, number 2, page 87:
      Conditions were horrendous aboard most British naval vessels at the time. Scurvy and other diseases ran rampant, killing more seamen each year than all other causes combined, including combat.
  2. Onto a horse. [from mid-20th c.][1]
  3. (obsolete) Across; athwart; alongside. [early 16th–late 17th c.][1]
    • 1591, Edmund Spenser, Virgil's Gnat:
      Nor iron bands aboard The Pontic Sea by their huge navy cast.

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “aboard”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 6.

Anagrams