Word.ws English Dictionary

drawing board

Syllables: draw·ing boardUK/ˈdɹɔ.ɪŋ bɔːd/US/ˈdɹɔ.ɪŋ boɹd/

drawing board noun: a plane surface or table to which paper can be fastened for drawing purposes.

drawing board: a plane surface or table to which paper can be fastened for drawing purposes
Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

drawing board (plural drawing boards)

  1. A plane surface or table to which paper can be fastened for drawing purposes.
    • The T square, used by architects, makes very good parallels, if made to slide along the smooth edge of a drawing board, or a straightedge laid and kept steady on the paper.1815, Peter Fleming, “Land Surveying. [Of Measuring Lands with the Chain only and Planning therefrom.]”, in A System of Land Surveying and Levelling; wherein is Demonstrated the Theory, with Numerous...
    • The Drawing-Board is a smooth board, […] very accurately rectangular, with its edges quite smooth. Upon this board drawing-paper is usually fixed, and evenly stretched, by means of glue or paste applied to a small strip of paper all round, which it is not intended to retain in the drawing.1859, Thomas Lund, “Prop[osition] XXXIII. To Explain the T Square, and the Drawing-board.”, in Elements of Geometry and Mensuration, with Easy Exercises, Designed for Schools and Adult Classes. In...
    Synonyms:
    drafting board
  2. (figuratively) The planning stage of a project.
    • At the time we doubted that such a locomotive would be given swift consideration—at least in detail; but the evidence suggests that one is already on the drawing board and will appear next year.1962 October, “Talking of Trains: Towards 75 m.p.h. B.R. expresses?”, in Modern Railways, page 219
    • Following every economic crisis, political leaders, finance ministers, central bank governors, policy makers, academics and other interested parties hurry back to their drawing boards to rethink and redraw the rules or "architecture" governing both the national and international economic order.2014, Shalendra D. Sharma, “G-20 World: Limits to Economic Cooperation in the Post-crisis Era”, in Global Financial Contagion: Building a Resilient World Economy after the Subprime Crisis, New York...

drawing board meaning in Tamil

drawing board in Tamil

படம் வரை பலகை, வரைபலகை, வரை பலகை, வரைதற்பலகை

Examples of drawing board in a sentence

  • As we explored the second floor of the building, we were pleasantly surprised to find a group of artists working away at their drawing boards.2013, Floyd Norman, “The Other Floyd: Mr. [Floyd] Gottfredson and His Famous Mouse”, in Animated Life: A Lifetime of Tips, Tricks and...
  • So much of what followed from the drawing boards of others will have been designed with the demands, effort and grandeur of Primrose Hill [tunnel] in the back of their minds.2020 August 26, Tim Dunn, “Great railway bores of our time!”, in Rail, page 44:
  • The philosophy of postponement ideally begins on the drawing board when the products are designed with late configuration in mind.2015, Walter L. Wallace, Yusen Xia, “Reshoring: Revolution or Evolution”, in Delivering Customer Value through Procurement and Strategic...
  • Its redevelopment, to accommodate roads up to 700 metres long, was listed in the London Freight Strategy of 2022 but hasn't gone beyond the drawing board.2025 August 6, David Stubbings, “Network News: Options sought for more trains to London Gateway”, in RAIL, number 1041, page 10:

Synonyms of drawing board

Forms of drawing board

pluraldrawing boards

Words formed from drawing board

Questions about drawing board

What does drawing board mean?
Drawing board means a plane surface or table to which paper can be fastened for drawing purposes.
What is drawing board in Tamil?
Drawing board in Tamil is படம் வரை பலகை, வரைபலகை, வரை பலகை. See Drawing board meaning in Tamil.
How do you use drawing board in a sentence?
As we explored the second floor of the building, we were pleasantly surprised to find a group of artists working away at their drawing boards.
What part of speech is drawing board?
Drawing board is a noun.
How do you pronounce drawing board?
Drawing board is pronounced /ˈdɹɔ.ɪŋ bɔːd/ (UK).
What is the plural of drawing board?
The plural of drawing board is drawing boards.

Words near drawing board in the dictionary

  1. drawing attention
  2. drawing away
  3. drawing back
  4. drawing backs
  5. drawing blood
  6. drawing board
  7. drawing boards
  8. drawing breath
  9. drawing bridle
  10. drawing card
  11. drawing cards

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: drawing board (page history and authors); drawing board (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-drawing board.ogg.

Cite this entry: “drawing board.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/drawing_board. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.