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board of directors

board of directors

85 3.1
A group of people chosen to oversee and make important decisions for a company
  • noun
  • /bɔrd əv daɪˈrɛktərz/
translation icon : junta directiva
  • She was excited to announce that she joined the board of directors for a local charity.
  • serve on the board of directors
  • member of the board of directors
  • board of directors meeting

I still thought the board of directors was in the John camp.

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Examples

  • Every member of the board of directors has specific duties to ensure effective governance.

  • Even in retirement, he still served on the board of directors of the Marine Corps League in Quantico, Virginia.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Tell that to the board of directors.

  • Is your father on the board of directors of all those companies?

  • Uncle Dave knows an important member on the board of directors.

  • Does the leadership of the firm, does the board of directors really understand where the risks are buried in the firm?

  • In such cases, the elected board of directors is held accountable to the shareholders.

    Academic text (2017)
  • I happen to serve on the board of directors of a steel company that is employee-owned.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The day-care center recently became incorporated, and now has a board of directors and an accountant.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • The new CEO presented his strategy to the board of directors during the meeting.

Synonyms

board
vsboard of directors
3.2

A group of people chosen to manage an organization

is specific to overseeing company management rather than any organization type
school board
vsboard of directors
  • US
117 2.3

A group of people who make decisions about local public schools

focuses on school system oversight rather than corporate governance and management
board of trustees
vsboard of directors
  • Formal
15 3.2

A group of people chosen to make important decisions for a school or other organization

focuses on overall management and running of a company rather than mainly policy direction
board of education
vsboard of directors
  • Formal
8 2.3

An official group of people who manage local public schools

is concerned with company or organization governance rather than local school management
governing board
vsboard of directors
4 3.5

A group of people who direct and make important decisions for an organization

focuses on company-level oversight and management rather than general institutional affairs
directorate
vsboard of directors
2 6.7

A group of people chosen to run a company, hospital, or organization

is chosen to run company management rather than serving as a general leadership name
board of regents
vsboard of directors
  • Formal
2 6.1

A group who run a college or university and make key decisions about rules, staff, and students

applies to higher education governance rather than general company oversight
board of selectmen
vsboard of directors
  • Formal
1 8.9

A group of elected officials who run a town government, often in New England, USA

is for company or organizational governance rather than town or municipal administration

How Responsible

board of directors
85 3.1
board
3.2
committee
3.2
working group
13 2.6

Surface Forms

Morphology

board + of + director

The meaning 'a group of people who oversee an organization' is directly and compositionally derived from 'board' (a committee) together with 'directors' (people who provide governance), with 'of' marking the relationship. This is a common, cross-linguistically regular organizational noun phrase, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Board of directors comes from the picture of leaders sitting around a board, a long table or wooden plank, while the directors gave directions and talked about plans. That's why board of directors means the group who 'make decisions' and 'look after' a company.