BLUSTROUS. Stormy: also said of a braggadocio. BO. Abbreviation of _boy_. A familiar epithet for a comrade, derived probably from the negro. BOADNASH. Buckhemshein coins of Barbary. BOANGA. A Malay piratical vessel, impelled by oars. BOARD. Certain offices under the control of the executive government, where the business of any particular department is carried on: as the Board of Admiralty, the Navy Board, Board of Ordnance, India Board, Board of Trade, &c. Also, timber sawn to a less thickness than plank: all broad stuff of under 1-1/2 inch in thickness. (_See_ PLANK.) Also, the space comprehended between any two places when the ship changes her course by tacking; or, it is the line over which she runs between tack and tack when working to windward, or sailing against the direction of the wind.--_To make a good board._ To sail in a straight line when close-hauled, without deviating to leeward.--_To make short boards_, is to tack frequently before the ship has run any great length of way.--_To make a stern board_, is when by a current, or any other accident, the vessel comes head to wind, the helm is shifted, and she has fallen back on the opposite tack, losing what she had gained, instead of having advanced beyond it. To make a stern board is frequently a very critical as well as seamanlike operation, as in very close channels. The vessel is allowed to run up into the wind until she has shot up to the weather danger; the helm is then shifted, and with all aback forward, she falls short off on the opposite tack. Such is also achieved at anchor in club-hauling (which see).--_To board a ship_, is to enter her in a hostile manner in order to take forcible possession of her, either from the attacking ship or by armed boats. The word _board_ has various other applications among seamen:--_To go aboard_ signifies to go into the ship.--_To slip by the board_, is to slip down a ship's side.--_To board it up_, is to beat up, sometimes on one tack and sometimes on another.--_The weather-board_ is the side of the ship which is to windward.--_By the board_, close to a ship's deck. BOARD AND BOARD. Alongside, as when two ships touch each other. BOARDERS. Sailors appointed to make an attack by boarding, or to repel such attempt from the enemy. Four men selected from each gun were generally allotted as boarders, also to trim sails, tend pumps, repair rigging, &c. BOARD HIM. A colloquialism for I'll ask, demand, or accost him. Hence Shakspeare makes Polonius say of Hamlet, "I'll board him presently." To make acquaintance with; to fasten on. BOARD HIM IN THE SMOKE. To take a person by surprise, as by firing a broadside, and boarding in the smoke. BOARDING. An assault made by one vessel on another, by entering her in battle with a detachment of armed men.