Definition of "boardwalk"

A man, whom we had noticed walking rather uncertainly, as if not sure whether he was going up or down hill, at this crisis came to a pause, staggered off the boardwalk, and leaned against the fence.

1865 June, “Godey’s Arm-chair”, in [Louis Antoine Godey and Sarah Josepha Hale], editors, Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine, volume LXX, Philadelphia, Pa.: L[ouis] A[ntoine] Godey, page 557, column 2

[A]bout the beginning of the war the greatest concern of [Ulysses Simpson] Grant was to get a good boardwalk laid from his house to the store. […] It is related, that after one of his great victories, some gentlemen of Galena had the walk laid, and telegraphed the General: "Rest easy, the walk is down."

1868, James S[anks] Brisbin, chapter III, in The Campaign Lives of Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax, Cincinnati, Oh.: C. F. Vent & Co., publishers; […], page 57

From the height of the boardwalk the sea lay before them, silver and stony, fold on fold of it, stretching east into the mist and clouds.

1963 winter, Josephine W[inslow] Johnson, “Coney Island in November”, in The Virginia Quarterly Review, volume 39, number 1, Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia, page 453

Oh when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof / And your shoes get so hot you wish your tired feet were fire proof / Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah / On a blanket with my baby is where I'll be

1964 June, Kenny Young, Arthur Resnick (lyrics and music), “Under the Boardwalk”, performed by The Drifters

New Jersey was reeling on Wednesday from the impact of Hurricane Sandy, which has caused catastrophic flooding here in Hoboken and in other New York City suburbs, destroyed entire neighborhoods across the state and wiped out iconic boardwalks in shore towns that had enchanted generations of vacationgoers.

2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, “New Jersey reels from storm’s thrashing”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 1 November 2012

A footpath would be boardwalked across the east meadow and would minimize compaction.

1990 December, “Environmental Consequences”, in Camp Little Green Valley: American Sports Kids Association: Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Arrowhead Ranger District, San Bernardino National Forest, Pacific Southwest Region, Forest Service, USDA, page IV-21

The state Forestry Division is boardwalking the Alaka‘i Swamp Trail to prevent damage to its fragile ecosystem, and, as of this writing, they had completed all but a mile.

2003, Richard McMahon, “Kaua‘i”, in Adventuring in Hawai‘i (Latitude 20 Book), revised edition, Honolulu, Hi.: University of Hawai‘i Press, page 314

An 18-km trail, 65 fences now stiled, electric wires at the cross-points sheaved with PVC, the swamp boardwalked, the drainage canals bridged, the signage in place.

2011 July, Pete McDonald, “Walkways, Gazetted and Ungazetted, 1975–2003”, in Foot-tracks in New Zealand: Origins, Access Issues and Recent Developments, [Dunedin, New Zealand: Pete McDonald], part 1 (Origins of the New Zealand Foot-track), page 196