boarder

Everyday

1. A pupil who lives at a boarding school during term instead of going home each day. tree →
2. A person who pays to live and eat meals in someone else's house. tree →
3. A person who rides a skateboard, snowboard or surfboard (informal). tree →
4. A person who climbs onto a ship to attack or take it over (old use, pirates). tree →

In the lessons

Common in school stories set in the UK and Ireland, where boarders and day pupils live different lives (dormitories, matron, house rules). In older stories families «take in boarders» to earn money. In pirate stories, boarders swing onto an enemy ship. Opposite of a boarder at school: a day pupil.

Examples

• My cousin is a boarder at a school in Scotland. tree →
• The boarders sleep in a big dormitory. tree →
• Mrs Hughes took in a boarder to help pay the rent. tree →
• The boarder paid for his room and his meals every week. tree →
• The skate park was full of young boarders. tree →
• «Repel boarders!» shouted the captain as the pirates climbed up. tree →
• Day pupils go home at four, but boarders stay for supper. tree →

Note

Homophone trap: «boarder» (a person who boards) and «border» (the edge or line between countries) sound the same. Related: board (food and a room: «bed and board»), boarding school, boarding house.