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board up

B1 neutral separable transitive
In simple words

To nail pieces of wood over windows and doors so nobody can get in.

Literal meaning: To put boards up over something.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

To cover windows and doors with wooden boards to protect or secure a building that is empty, damaged, or at risk.

"Residents boarded up their windows before the hurricane made landfall."

"Businesses boarded up their windows as protests swept through the city centre."

— The Guardian (2020), reporting on civil unrest
Grammar: separable
2 B1 neutral

To close a building permanently or semi-permanently by boarding all its openings, typically because it is no longer in use.

"The old cinema had been boarded up for years before the developers finally demolished it."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Very commonly used in news reporting about abandoned buildings, natural disasters, or civil unrest. The object can be the opening (window, door) or the whole building. Passive form ('boarded up') is extremely common.

Commonly used with

windows doors shop house building storefront

Forms

Base
board up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
boards up
he/she/it
Past simple
boarded up
yesterday
Past participle
boarded up
have + pp
-ing form
boarding up
continuous

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Synonyms

seal up barricade secure shutter nail up block up

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