handboards

Noun

handboard (plural handboards)

1. A board that is held in the hand or attached by a strap, used like a paddle when bodysurfing.
   • The usual handboard is made of thin light wood such as plywood, about a foot long and nine inches wide, with a curved front, straight sides, and a sawn-off rear end.1967, Midget Farrelly, The Surfing Life, page 183

   Synonyms:

   handplane

2. A tablet-sized surface for writing or displaying text and images.
   • Having occasion for a writing handboard, such as could be bought in London for 2s. 6d. or less, I was charged 7s. 6d. for one in Montreal.1883 August, George Jacob Holyoake, “American and Canadian Notes”, in The Nineteenth Century, volume 14, page 298
3. A small hand-painted wooden sign, especially one indicating the direction (and possibly distance) to a particular location.
   • A schoolmaster's etymology is a stupid affair, a handboard at the entrance of a cul-de-sac, or blind alley.1868, J. Peter Lesley, Man's Origin and Destiny, page 336
4. A device for securing, supporting, or guiding the hand; a handrest or splint.
   • The scaffold was reached by a ladder projecting about a foot above the top of the scaffold , and then a handboard , fastened on one side , extended between one and two feet higher than the ladder .1897, Illinois. Appellate Court, Edwin Burritt Smith, Martin L. Newell, Reports of Cases Decided in the Appellate Courts of the State of Illinois, page 165
5. A long narrow board with a catch for holding a dart, spear, or harpoon used as a throwing device.
   • If the oar is lost past recovery, they attempt to jerk themselves upwards by striking the water with the handboard of the harpoon, or a knife, or even the palm of the hand; but this experiment rarely succeeds.1820, The History of Greenland, page 141
6. A flat surface with a handle on one side, used by a mason or plasterer; a hawk or mortarboard.
   • Get the handboard and the trowel , each of us got that, Bancroft had one, too, and he lifted the stuff off from the board and give it up to us.1914, Supreme Court Apellate Division-Fourth Department: Record on Appeal, page 121

See all 12 meanings of handboard