across the board
Applying to everyone
Across the board means applying to all categories, members, or cases without exception.
An across-the-board pay raise affects everyone equally.
The phrase comes from horse racing, where betting "across the board" means placing equal wagers on win, place, and show—covering all possibilities: The company announced across-the-board layoffs.
- all-encompassingIncluding everything without exception
- no exceptionsUniversal application, none spared
- blanketSoft bed covering
- comprehensiveIncluding all elements
- top to bottomCovering the whole extent
standardized · equal-opportunity · uniform · even · pervasive · universal · categorical · overarching · flat-rate · bar none · wholesale · all around · far-reaching · flat · wall-to-wall · without distinction · systematic · global
- horse racingthoroughbred, horse racing, racehorse, flat race, horses
- racing termsbackstretch, checkered flag, daily double, dead heat, exacta
- completenesscomplete, completely, entire, totally, total
- racing betsexacta, trifecta, quinella, superfecta, perfecta
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- Standards & Benchmarksbenchmark, yardstick, gold standard, litmus test, acid test
across the boardlimited
Restricted in extent
selective · partial · restricted · narrow · localized
across the boardtargeted
Chosen for specific attention
selective · case-by-case · specific · discriminating · individualized
board, across, crossing, aboard, crosses, crosswise, across-the-board