playboard

English

Etymology

play +‎ board

Noun

playboard (plural playboards)

1. A ledge or shelf used in puppetry for balancing props.
   • 2005, Carol R. Exner, Practical Puppetry A-Z: A Guide for Librarians and Teachers, page 106:

     Professional puppeteers hang their puppets upside down from a ring on the playboard shelf inside the puppet theater and slip the puppets on like gloves. […] When the puppet is removed, it is hung back in its place on the playboard.

2. The playfield of a pinball table or similar game.
   • 1969, Rufus King, Gambling and organized crime:

     Nothing moves on these playboards except the ball itself which rolls down the inclined playboard by gravitational pull.

   • 1983, Heinz R. Pagels, The cosmic code: quantum physics as the language of nature:

     Playing pinball requires total concentration, the right combination of skill and chance, a mastery of indeterminacy as the ball moves across the playboard and interacts with bumpers and cushions.