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Definition of boilerplate
1 : syndicated material supplied especially to weekly newspapers in matrix or plate form
2a : standardized textb : formulaic or hackneyed language bureaucratic boilerplate
3 : tightly packed icy snow
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boilerplate was our Word of the Day on 04/22/2009. Hear the podcast!
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Recent Examples of boilerplate from the Web
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When Trump finally did weigh in on the Portland terror act, on his official @POTUS feed and not his personal one, the tweet was relatively boilerplate: The violent attacks in Portland on Friday are unacceptable.
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Here’s my boilerplate stance on Fox — good coach, good guy.
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Much about these two foils goes unexplored, the movie rendering them boilerplate hero and villain.
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Such a line of questioning forms the boilerplate for all of Murakami’s fiction.
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But even the usual boilerplate platitudes proved fraught at this summit meeting.
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Why do virtually all new special districts included boilerplate language to free their budgets from TABOR’s provisions?
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Rosemary K. Young, senior director of marketing at Ivanka Trump, issued the following boilerplate statement about the controversy to Vanity Fair on Friday afternoon.
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Instead of the detailed agreements that typically accompany corporate transactions, the playful and collaborative nature of hackathon events is often reflected in short, boilerplate, and/or vague participant agreements.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'boilerplate'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
In the days before computers, small, local newspapers around the U.S. relied heavily on feature stories, editorials, and other printed material supplied by large publishing syndicates. The syndicates delivered that copy on metal plates with the type already in place so the local papers wouldn't have to set it. Printers apparently dubbed those syndicated plates boiler plates because of their resemblance to the plating used in making steam boilers. Soon boilerplate came to refer to the printed material on the plates as well as to the plates themselves. Because boilerplate stories were more often filler than hard news, the word acquired negative connotations and gained another sense widely used today: "hackneyed or unoriginal writing."
First Known Use of boilerplate
1893
BOILERPLATE Defined for English Language Learners
boilerplate
playDefinition of boilerplate for English Language Learners
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: phrases or sentences that are a standard way of saying something and are often used
Law Dictionary
boilerplate
playLegal Definition of boilerplate
: standardized text in documents (as contracts)
Learn More about boilerplate
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See words that rhyme with boilerplate Britannica English: Translation of boilerplate for Arabic speakers
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