bed and board
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
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
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
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
bed and board
Lodging and food; by extension, the essentials one works for. Originally the term meant the full connubial rights of a wife as mistress of her household. The marriage service in the York Manual (ca. 1403) states: “Here I take . . . to be my wedded wyfe, to hald and to have at bed and at borde, for fayrer for layther, for better for wers . . . till ded us depart.”
See also: and, bed, board
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- room and board
- board and lodging
- lodging
- pay through the nose
- pay through the nose (for something)
- save for
- save for (someone or something)
- save oneself
- three squares (a day)
- three squares a day