all over the board

Applying to or impacting every part or individual in a group or spectrum of things. Some senior employees are unhappy that the new dress code applies to everyone across the board. The politician is expected to call for tax increases across the board.

Fig. [distributed] equally for everyone or everything. The school board raised the pay of all the teachers across the board.

Applying to all the individuals in a group, as in They promised us an across-the-board tax cut, that is, one applying to all taxpayers, regardless of income. This expression comes from horse racing, where it refers to a bet that covers all possible ways of winning money on a race: win (first), place (second), or show (third). The board here is the notice-board on which the races and betting odds are listed. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1900s.

COMMON If a policy or development applies across the board, it applies equally to all the people or areas of business connected with it. It seems that across the board all shops have cut back on staff. This proposal will reduce funding across the board for community development grants, student loans and summer schools. Note: You can also talk about an across-the-board policy or development. There is an across-the-board increase in the amount of meat eaten by children. Note: This was originally an American expression which was used in horse racing. If someone bet across the board, they bet on a horse to win or to come second, third, or fourth.

So as to affect or include all people, classes, or categories: raised taxes across the board.

Affecting all classes and categories. The term, originally American, comes from horse-racing, where a bet covering all winning possibilities—win (first place), place (second place), or show (third place)—was so described. By about 1950 it was extended to other situations, principally of an economic nature, as in across-the-board wage increases (for all employees), tax reductions (for all brackets), air-fare increases, and the like.