hoarding

1. (architecture, historical) A roofed wooden shield placed over the battlements of a castle and projecting from them.historical

2. (construction, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) A temporary fence-like structure built around building work to add security and prevent accidents to the public.Examples: "Making inquiries she came to a hoarding, within which were excavations denoting the foundations of a building; and on the boards without one or two large posters announcing that the foundation-stone of the chapel about to be erected would be laid that afternoon at three o’clock by a London preacher of great popularity among his body."; "A hoarding is a legal requirement for the safety of the public on a building site. There are rules about its height and construction. But of course it is also the perfect opportunity: a blank canvas on which to show a vision of the life soon to be lived behind it."; "They’re a familiar sight to many: the eye-roll-inducing, over-the-top development hoardings and adverts that celebrate the (inevitably luxury and, to most people, unaffordable) developments soon to be added to the city skyline."AustraliaCanadaHong-KongIrelandNew-ZealandUK

3. (chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A billboard.Examples: "Nobody has ever seen Big Brother. He is a face on the hoardings, a voice on the telescreen. We may be reasonably sure that he will never die, and there is already considerable uncertainty as to when he was born."; "Today, by radio, and also on giant hoardings, a rabbi, an admiral notorious for his links to Masonry, a trio of cardinals, a trio, too, of insignificant politicians (bought and paid for by a rich and corrupt Anglo-Canadian banking corporation), inform us all of how our country now risks dying of starvation."; "But holidaymakers arriving this weekend in Positano, on the Amalfi coast, are more likely to find their gaze captured by a vast Volkswagen Golf. The car, pictured on a giant hoarding, has launched the latest row over intrusive advertising in Italy's historic towns and cities."CommonwealthIrelandUK