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go by the board

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go by the board

Fig. to get ruined or lost. (This is originally a nautical expression meaning "to fall or be washed overboard.") I hate to see good food go by the board. Please eat up so we won't have to throw it out. Your plan has gone by the board. The entire project has been canceled.

See also: board

go by the board

to stop existing Alsop complained that the world he knew as a young man had gone by the board.

Usage notes: also used in the form go by the boards

See also: board

go by the board

  (British, American & Australian) also go by the boards (American)

if something that has been planned or arranged goes by the board, it does not happen, and if something that exists goes by the board, it ends All our careful arrangements went by the board when the trip was cancelled at the last minute. When modern machinery was introduced, old-fashioned printing methods went by the board.

See also: board