On board or onboard?
on board is a preposition meaning “On or in (a means of transportation)”; onboard is an adjective meaning “Carried or used on or in a vehicle or vessel”. Use on board as a preposition and onboard as an adjective (on board is also an adjective: “Joining in or participating”). on board is written as two words and onboard as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between on board and onboard?
| on board | onboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | preposition, adjective, interjection | adjective, adverb, verb, noun |
| Meaning | On or in (a means of transportation) Joining in or participating Agreeing or supporting | Carried or used on or in a vehicle or vessel Being a part of, being included in, participating in On or in a vehicle or vessel; aboard; on board |
| Example | On board his boat were various firearms but not much food | When it comes to security, everybody seems to be as onboard as I am |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ɒnˈbɔːd/ /ɔnˈboːd/ /ɑnˈbɔɹd/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 3.5 times per million words |
Sources: on board and onboard in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of on board and onboard
on board
- 1
On or in (a means of transportation)
On board his boat were various firearms but not much food
- 2
Joining in or participating
Is that new teammate properly on board yet?
- 3
The stereotypical cry of pirates when boarding a ship for close quarters combat
- 4
Alternative form of onboard
- 5
Agreeing or supporting
It's a good idea, but let's see if we can get a few more of the management team on board
- 6
Into itself or oneself
onboard
- 1
Carried or used on or in a vehicle or vessel
- 2
On or in a vehicle or vessel; aboard; on board
- 3
To become a part of a group; (transitive) to incorporate (someone) into a group
- 4
A feed, video, image, etc., taken of a vehicle's situation, from a position that is on the vehicle
- 5
Being a part of, being included in, participating in
When it comes to security, everybody seems to be as onboard as I am
- 6
To begin to use a product or service; to take (someone) on as a new customer of a product or service
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, on board or onboard?
on board is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; onboard 3.5 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search on board vs onboard?
“on board vs onboard” is searched about 720 times a month on Google and 50 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“onboard vs on board”, “on board or onboard”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.