boilerplate
/ˈbɔɪləpleɪt
/noun
1 [mass noun] Rolled steel plates for making boilers.Although some iron, steel, boilerplate, and machinery was smuggled through the blockade, the flow was meager and uncertain....
- The finishing on pipes and joints was of a much higher quality than the prototype I'd last seen; polished brass fittings, varnished wood, a cast-iron boilerplate moulded around the door.
- Take the samples and carry out the required metallurgical tests on your boilerplate.
2 (boilerplates) Climbing Smooth, overlapping, and undercut slabs of rock: the ice-worn boilerplates
3 [mass noun] North American Clichéd or predictable ideas or writing: they exposed the truth behind the patriotic boilerplate...
- He has almost zero patience for boilerplate, even though he repeats it.
- Otherwise, you will much more readily find your way to boilerplate and cliche.
- Yet, at some point, moral precepts that appear neither straightforward nor doable become boilerplate that inspires cynicism rather than commitment.
3.1Standardized pieces of text for use as clauses in contracts or as part of a computer program: some sections have been written as boilerplate for use in all proposals...
- You'll note that the boilerplate text is subtly different.
- Solanas was thrilled by her status as a soon-to-be-published writer, but it wasn't long before she began obsessing about the seemingly restrictive legal boilerplate of Girodias's contract.
- Even though they are boilerplate clauses and ‘non-negotiable,’ they need to be reviewed by the artist to make sure that they can conform.