boilerplate
boilerplate Lexical Profile
boilerplate Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Standardized, formulaic, or routine, and used repeatedly without significant modification (especially of legal clauses, business correspondence, or computer code).
"The software developer used a boilerplate template to set up the basic structure of the web application."
• noun
Standardized text, clauses, or sections of computer code that can be reused in new documents or programs with little or no alteration.
"The lawyer quickly reviewed the contract, focusing on the custom terms rather than the standard legal boilerplate at the end."
Hackneyed, unoriginal, or formulaic writing or speech.
"The candidate's speech offered little substance, consisting mostly of political boilerplate and familiar slogans."
Rolled steel plates used in making the shells of steam boilers.
"The historic shipyard once consumed thousands of tons of heavy boilerplate to manufacture industrial steam engines."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Originally referring to thick rolled steel plates used to construct steam boilers, the term acquired its figurative sense in late 19th-century American journalism, when syndicated newspaper text was distributed to local printers on stamped steel plates that resembled actual boiler plating.