A scoreboard is a large display that shows the current score and other important information during a game or competition. At a baseball stadium, the scoreboard tells you the score, what inning it is, how many outs there are, and which runners are on base. At a basketball game, it counts down the time remaining and tracks each team's points.

Scoreboards help everyone follow what's happening. Players can glance up to see if they're ahead or behind. Coaches use the information to make decisions about strategy. Fans in the crowd can track the game's progress without having to keep mental notes of everything.

The word also appears in everyday language. When someone says “check the scoreboard,” they mean look at the actual results rather than just talking about what might happen. If your friend boasts about being a better speller but you just won the spelling bee, you might think (though probably not say out loud), “Check the scoreboard.” In business, people talk about “keeping score” to mean tracking results that matter, like sales numbers or customer satisfaction.

Modern scoreboards are often giant electronic displays with instant replays and animations, but simpler scoreboards can be as basic as a piece of paper where someone writes down points with a pencil, or even a chalkboard at a neighborhood basketball court.