letterboard

English

Etymology

letter +‎ board

Noun

letterboard (plural letterboards)

1. A signboard for lettering or text.
   • 1941, Transit Journal: Volume 85:

     So reads the new slogan painted on the letterboards of New York City omnibuses.

2. A board marked with letters of the alphabet, used for communication by the disabled.
   • 1973, Oliver Sacks, Awakenings:

     One of the patients, Leonard L., when he heard of L-DOPA, rapped on his letterboard with mixed enthusiasm and irony, 'Dopamine is Resurrectamine. Cotzias is the Chemical Messiah.'

3. (printing, historical) A board on which matter in type is placed for storage or manipulation.