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bed and board

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bed and board

1. A place to sleep and get daily meals, or the cost of such. Well, the job doesn't pay very much but it provides bed and board, so I'm saving most of the money I earn. Transportation was free, but bed and board set me back $700.

2. The house as a symbol of the duties and sanctity of marriage. He left bed and board after 10 years of marriage.

See also: and, bed, board

bed and board

Lodging and meals, as in Housekeepers usually earn a standard salary in addition to bed and board. This phrase was first recorded in the York Manual (c. 1403), which stipulated certain connubial duties: "Her I take ... to be my wedded wife, to hold to have at bed and at board." Later bed was used merely to denote a place to sleep.

See also: and, bed, board