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overboard

overboard

64 2.2
Into the water from a boat or ship
  • adverb
  • /ˈoʊvərˌbɔrd/
translation icon : por la borda
  • But first, let's throw her overboard!
  • fall overboard
  • jump overboard
  • dive overboard

Because I've looked around the room at times and thought, Oh my God, if people knew how much I don't know about where we are and where we're going, they would throw me overboard.

Examples

  • A few people are washed overboard with no way of saving them.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Throw me overboard while you still have a chance!

  • You said you saw him throw her overboard.

  • Should I throw her overboard?

  • Maybe we should throw him overboard.

  • "Let's hope he didn't fall overboard along with it," she said.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • I dove overboard, swam like hell.

  • The guy jumped overboard.

  • On March 23, 2008, a deadly shipwreck sent 47 people overboard into the freezing waters of the Bering Sea.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The captain shouted for help when he saw someone fall overboard during the storm.

Antonyms

213 1.0

On a vehicle like a train or plane

Surface Forms

overboard positive

Morphology

overboard = board (transparent) = over + board

The meaning is a direct compound of 'over' + 'board' describing falling from the ship into the water, which an average learner can infer. [Postprocessing: moved 'over' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

The word overboard is made of over ('above' or 'across') and board ('the ship's deck'), so it first meant going 'over the side of the ship' into the water. That's why overboard still means 'from a boat into the sea'.