boilerplate

plural boilerplates · alternative boiler plate · alternative boiler-plate

1. A sheet of metal.
   1. countableuncountableliteralA sheet of copper or steel used in the construction of a boiler.

      That is, suppose we fix a piece of iron, a strip of boilerplate, for instance, ¼ of an inch thick and 4 inches wide, at a temperature of 92 degrees Fahr., between a pair of immovable clamps.

      1885 April 4, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks, Scientific American Supplement, number 483, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2026

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      For rolled steel structural plates and sections, the Carbon content may be increased to approximately 0.30%, with higher Manganese content up to 1.5%. These materials may be used for stampings, forgings, seamless tubes, and boilerplates.

      2023, J. Y. Afrifa, E. A. Duodu, N. J. Amoanab, K. Dubik, C. Akasika, F. Dery, “Impact of Electric-Arc Welding on the Mechanical Properties of AISI 1055 Medium Carbon Steel with Varied Gauge Diameters”, in Africian Journal of Applied Research, volume 9, number 2, →ISSN, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2024, page 37

   2. broadlyuncountableliteralAny metal taking the form of sheets used in the construction of a boiler.
   3. countableuncountableliteralA plate attached to industrial machinery, identifying information such as manufacturer, model number, serial number, and power requirements.
   4. UKcountableuncountableliteralThe rating plate or nameplate required to be affixed to a boiler by the Boiler Explosions Act (1882).
2. A template.
   1. countablefigurativelyuncountablejournalismSyndicated material; repeatable stories, articles or advertisements.

      […] they have neither the responsibility nor the inclination to cover the real news of the community and consequently have little editorial expense, relying on handouts and cheap boilerplate materials to fill up the spots where they have no ads.

      1966, Editor & Publisher, volume 99, page 46

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      This rule prevented publishers from using various kinds of preset plate matter to fill their pages while avoiding composition costs. In the 1880s, numerous agencies sprang up to provide precisely these services to newspapers in the form of so-called boilerplate.

      (Can we date this quote?), (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 220

   2. countablefigurativelyuncountableA copy for the purpose of making other copies.

      Synonyms: template

   3. countablefigurativelyuncountableStandard text of a legal or official nature added to documents or labels.

      They put that boilerplate on all the warning labels.

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      This type of clause has proved so valuable that it is presently standard “boilerplate,” not only in shipbuilding contracts, but also in almost every government contract.

      1959, Navy Contract Law, 2nd edition, Washington D.C.: Office of the General Counsel, Department of the Navy, pages 532-533

      Form contracts often contain a lot of boilerplate—sometimes as many as 50-100 boilerplate terms, which run on for many pages.

      2018, Melvin A. Eisenberg, Foundational Principles of Contract Law (The Oxford Commentaries on American Law), New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 522

   4. countablefigurativelyuncountableA basic contract that can be modified to make different kinds of contracts.
   5. countablefigurativelyuncountablecomputingA standard piece of program code used routinely and added with a text editor or word processor.

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      Creating a site is easy and, a little like Net Objects Fusion, you can use styles and templates to set up the basic layout, complete with buttons and links automatically. Shared blocks of boilerplate make it easy to add such things as email addresses or navigation footers to each page, and there's a good range of script items you can add to your pages.

      2005 March, Nigel Whitfield, “SJ Namo Web Editor 6 Suite”, in Personal Computer World, page 81

      Synonyms: boilerplate code

   6. countablefigurativelyuncountableFormulaic or hackneyed language.
3. uncountablehobbiesTightly packed snow with a hard, icy crust on its surface, which may be dangerous for skiing.

alternative boiler plate · alternative boiler-plate

1. not comparableDescribing text or other material of a standard or routine nature.

   The contract contained all the usual boilerplate clauses.

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   It’s an oldie, but not a goodie: one of those boilerplate kids’ movie plots about a workaholic adult who needs a serious jolt to their inner child, complete with a buck-passing, golf-playing idiot boss (Mark Gatiss) and a big presentation that’s due tomorrow.

   2018 August 2, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “Disney goes back to the Hundred Acre Wood in the wistful Christopher Robin”, in AV Club, archived from the original on 03 Aug 2018

   Devoid of even boilerplate language offering support for Israel and its defense, the statement made clear: this would be Israel’s conflict, not Trump’s.

   2025 June 12, Kevin Liptak, “Trump didn’t want Israel to strike. They did it anyway.”, in CNN.com

2. not comparableFormulaic, stereotypical.
3. not comparableaeronauticsUsed to refer to a non-functional spacecraft used to test configuration and procedures.

   A boilerplate spacecraft was used to test the rocket.

present singular third person boilerplates · participle present boilerplating · participle past boilerplated · past boilerplated · alternative boiler plate · alternative boiler-plate

1. transitiveTo store standard text so that it can easily be retrieved for reuse.

   Boilerplated sections should be examined for updating each time they are used.

   1989, Ron Tepper, How to Write Winning Proposals for Your Company Or Client, page 236

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   Any text that you have reason to use more than once can be boilerplated by simply tucking it away in a file (on disk) […]

   1986, Personal Computing, volume 10, page 72