A decorative strip around the edge of something, such as fabric.
A strip of ground, as at the edge of a garden or walk, in which ornamental plants or shrubs are planted.
The line or frontier area separating political divisions or geographic regions; a boundary.
v.
bor·dered, bor·der·ing, bor·ders
v.
tr.
To put a border on.
To lie along or adjacent to the border of: Canada borders the United States.
v.
intr.
To lie adjacent to another: The United States borders on Canada.
To be almost like another in character: an act that borders on heroism.
[Middle English bordure, from Old French bordeure, from border, to border, from bort, border, of Germanic origin.]
bor'der·er n.
Synonyms: These nouns refer to the line or narrow area that marks the outside limit of something such as a surface. Border refers either to the boundary line (a fence along the border of the property) or to the area immediately inside (a frame with a wide border). Margin is a border of more or less precisely definable width: the margin of the page. Edge refers to the bounding line formed by the continuous convergence of two surfaces: sat on the edge of the chair. Verge is an extreme terminating line or edge: the sun's afterglow on the verge of the horizon.
Figuratively it indicates a point at which something is likely to begin or to happen: an explorer on the verge of a great discovery. Brink denotes the edge of a steep place: stood on the brink of the cliff.
In an extended sense it indicates the likelihood or imminence of a sudden change: on the brink of falling in love. Rim most often denotes the edge of something circular or curved: a crack in the rim of the lens. Brim applies to the upper edge or inner side of the rim of something shaped like a basin: lava issuing from the brim of the crater.
c.1350, from O.Fr. bordure "seam, edge, border," from Frankish *bord (cf. O.E. bord "side"), from P.Gmc. *bordus "edge," from *borthaz. The geopolitical sense first attested 1535, in Scottish (replacing earlier march), from The Borders, district adjoining the boundary between England and Scotland.
Board\, n. [OE. bord, AS. bord board, shipboard; akin to bred plank, Icel. bor? board, side of a ship, Goth. f?tu-baurd]/> footstool, D. bord board, G. brett, bort. See def. 8. [root]92.]1. A piece of timber sawed thin, and of considerable length and breadth as compared with the thickness, -- used for building, etc. Note: When sawed thick, as over one and a half or two inches, it is usually called a plank. 2. A table to put food upon. Note: The term board answers to the modern table, but it was often movable, and placed on trestles. --Halliwell. Fruit of all kinds . . . She gathers, tribute large, and on the board Heaps with unsparing hand. --Milton. 3. Hence: What is served on a table as food; stated meals; provision; entertainment; -- usually as furnished for pay; as, to work for one's board; the price of board. 4. A table at which a council or court is held. Hence: A council, convened for business, or any authorized assembly or meeting, public or private; a number of persons appointed or elected to sit in council for the management or direction of some public or private business or trust; as, the Board of Admiralty; a board of trade; a board of directors, trustees, commissioners, etc. Both better acquainted with affairs than any other who sat then at that board. --Clarendon. We may judge from their letters to the board. --Porteus. 5. A square or oblong piece of thin wood or other material used for some special purpose, as, a molding board; a board or surface painted or arranged for a game; as, a chessboard; a backgammon board. 6. Paper made thick and stiff like a board, for book covers, etc.; pasteboard; as, to bind a book in boards. 7. pl. The stage in a theater; as, to go upon the boards, to enter upon the theatrical profession. 8. [In this use originally perh. a different word meaning border, margin; cf. D. boord, G. bord, shipboard, and G. borte trimming; also F. bord (fr. G.) the side of a ship. Cf. Border.] The border or side of anything. (Naut.) (a) The side of a ship. "Now board to board the rival vessels row." --Dryden. See On board, below. (b) The stretch which a ship makes in one tack. Note: Board is much used adjectively or as the last part of a compound; as, fir board, clapboard, floor board, shipboard, sideboard, ironing board, chessboard, cardboard, pasteboard, seaboard; board measure. The American Board, a shortened form of "The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions" (the foreign missionary society of the American Congregational churches). Bed and board. See under Bed. Board and board (Naut.), side by side. Board of control, six privy councilors formerly appointed to superintend the affairs of the British East Indies. --Stormonth. Board rule, a figured scale for finding without calculation the number of square feet in a board. --Haldeman. Board of trade, in England, a committee of the privy council appointed to superintend matters relating to trade. In the United States, a body of men appointed for the advancement and protection of their business interests; a chamber of commerce. Board wages. (a) Food and lodging supplied as compensation for services; as, to work hard, and get only board wages. (b) Money wages which are barely sufficient to buy food and lodging. (c) A separate or special allowance of wages for the procurement of food, or food and lodging. --Dryden. By the board, over the board, or side. "The mast went by the board." --Totten. Hence (Fig.), To go by the board, to suffer complete destruction or overthrow. To enter on the boards, to have one's name inscribed on a board or tablet in a college as a student. [Cambridge, England.] "Having been entered on the boards of Trinity college." --Hallam. To make a good board (Naut.), to sail in a straight line when close-hauled; to lose little to leeward. To make short boards, to tack frequently. On board. (a) On shipboard; in a ship or a boat; on board of; as, I came on board early; to be on board ship. (b) In or into a railway car or train. [Colloq. U. S.] Returning board, a board empowered to canvass and make an official statement of the votes cast at an election. [U.S.]
Bor"der\, n. [OE. bordure, F. bordure, fr. border to border, fr. bord a border; of German origin; cf. MHG. borte border, trimming, G. borte trimming, ribbon; akin to E. board in sense 8. See Board, n., and cf. Bordure.]1. The outer part or edge of anything, as of a garment, a garden, etc.; margin; verge; brink. Upon the borders of these solitudes. --Bentham. In the borders of death. --Barrow. 2. A boundary; a frontier of a state or of the settled part of a country; a frontier district. 3. A strip or stripe arranged along or near the edge of something, as an ornament or finish. 4. A narrow flower bed. Border land, land on the frontiers of two adjoining countries; debatable land; -- often used figuratively; as, the border land of science. The Border, The Borders, specifically, the frontier districts of Scotland and England which lie adjacent. Over the border, across the boundary line or frontier. Syn: Edge; verge; brink; margin; brim; rim; boundary; confine.
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