To cover windows, doors, or openings with wooden boards, usually to secure an empty or damaged building.
To nail pieces of wood over windows and doors so nobody can get in.
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
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
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."
To put boards up over something.
To nail pieces of wood over windows and doors so nobody can get in.
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.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Listen to native speakers using "board up" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
Swap in when you want variety — tap a linked one to explore it.
Jump to every phrasal verb built on the same verb, particle, or level.