Meanings
plural duckboards
- in pluralAny of a long series of boards laid from side to side as a path across wet or muddy ground.
In an attempt to alleviate the problem, wooden planking, known as duckboards, was placed at the bottom of trenches and across other areas of muddy or waterlogged ground.
- Wooden, low walkway or short part of a path with one or more planks, logs, or boards laid after each other lengthwise, often two planks wide.
Synonyms: bog board, bog bridge, puncheon
- A panel of wooden slats typically laid on a concrete floor in a workshop, to reduce fatigue for a person operating a machine tool or working at a bench.
present singular third person duckboards · participle present duckboarding · participle past duckboarded · past duckboarded
- transitiveTo cover with duckboards.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounWooden, low walkway or short part of a path with one or more planks, logs, or boards laid after each other lengthwise, often two planks wide.
Origin
Possibly a metaphorical use of a name for a board connecting a duck hutch to a yard.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish pitkospuu
- pitkospuuplank or board laid lengthwise as path across wet ground
German Holzsteg, Steg
- Holzstegplank or board laid lengthwise as path across wet ground
- Stegplank or board laid lengthwise as path across wet ground
Turkish tahta patika
- tahta patikaplank or board laid lengthwise as path across wet ground
Cite this entry
duckboard. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duckboard
“duckboard.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duckboard. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “duckboard,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duckboard.
Source: duckboard on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.