Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
sandwich board

sandwich board

2 4.8
A pair of boards worn over the shoulders to show ads front and back
  • noun
  • /ˈsændwɪtʃ bɔrd/
translation icon : tablón publicitario
  • The 'sandwich' board outside listed the specials, daily soups, and homemade drinks.
  • wearing a sandwich board
  • sandwich board advertising
  • sandwich board on the sidewalk

And then I got the sandwich board or telling reinsuring Noki.

Examples

  • Koj sees one of those sandwich board signs off to the side which says, "LAVATORY TEMPORARILY CLOSED FOR CLEANING."

    Fiction book (1997)

  • I say, "Hi," and look at the sandwich board.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Dad, can you grab the sandwich board?

    The Fabelmans (2022)

  • Realtors' signs had been staked into the front and side yards, and a sandwich board stood spraddled on the sidewalk.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • One thing led to another, and pretty soon he's got us walking up and down the sidewalk downtown with sandwich boards saying, 'Eat at the malt shop.'

    Blog text (26)

  • Over the weekend, however, as I trekked up to the Lewis Center for the Arts to see my roommate's musical, I walked past a haggard-looking lady in a sandwich board on the corner of Nassau and Washington.

    Blog text (19)

  • The actors wore sandwich boards to promote the upcoming theater festival in the park.

  • During the parade, volunteers carried sandwich boards displaying messages about environmental awareness.

  • As part of the advertisement campaign, two people walked down the street wearing sandwich boards about the new restaurant opening.

How Visible

billboard
  • US
167 1.3
poster
304 1.0
sandwich board
2 4.8
flyer
141 2.0

Surface Forms

sandwich board singular
sandwich boards plural

Morphology

sandwich + board

The compound evokes a relation between 'sandwich' and 'board' (a board associated with a sandwich-like arrangement), so learners who know both words get a partial clue. However the specific notion of two hinged/worn advertising boards (a person 'sandwiched' between boards) is a culturalized, metaphorical extension and can be misinterpreted (e.g. a board for sandwiches), so the meaning is not fully predictable.

Etymology

The noun sandwich board comes from a simple picture: a person wears two flat boards, one in front and one behind, like a sandwich with the person in the middle. That's why the phrase means a sign someone wears in the street to 'advertise'.