washboardn.adj.
/ˈwɒʃbɔːd/, U.S. /ˈwɔʃˌbɔrd/, /ˈwɑʃˌbɔrd/ 1. Nautical. A board on the side of a boat to prevent the sea breaking over; also, a board on the sill of a lower-deck port, for the same purpose.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > other equipment of vessel > [noun] > devices to protect ship from weather > board to keep water out
set board1512
waist-board1627
washboard1753
water board1758
weatherboard1772
wash-strake1809
splash-board1907
1753 T. Woodroofe in J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea I. xvii. 116 The largest boat was towed a-stern, being raised with wash-boards for that purpose.
1825 T. Hook Sayings & Doings 2nd Ser. III. 399 She shipped a heavy sea, which washed away all the starboard bulwarks and washboards.
1888 T. T. Wildridge Northumbria 134 The structural points of interest in this [ancient] boat are the ‘washboards’ and the wooden pegs.
2. A board round the walls of a room with its edge resting on the floor; a skirting board. dialect.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > wall of building > [noun] > skirting board
skiftingc1450
baseboard1598
skirt-board1690
skirting boarda1756
base1757
skirting1825
washboard1828
1828–32 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Wash-board. 2. a board in a room, next to the floor.
1860 ‘G. Eliot’ Mill on Floss I. ii. iii. 302 To stand looking out of the study window at the rain, and kicking his foot against the washboard in solitude.
1862 C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds & Neighbourhood Gloss. Washboard (pron. weshboard), the wainscot.
3. † a. A flat piece of wood fixed on an axis within the barrel of a washing-machine, and made to revolve so as to agitate the clothes in the water. Obsolete.
1799 Hull Advertiser 29 June 2/2 Washing machines which move with a pendulum or upright wash-board in the inside.
b. U.S. A hardwood board, with a fluted surface or covered with corrugated zinc, on which clothes are rubbed in washing.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > board on which clothes are rubbed
washboard1845
rub-board1964
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > washing-machine > part of
washboard1845
drum1851
mangler1882
1845 J. W. Norris Business Adviser & Gen. Directory Chicago 95 Manufacturer of the improved zinc wash~boards.
1882 W. D. Howells in Longman's Mag. 1 56 Wherever the piano-forte penetrates, lovely woman lifts her fingers from the needle, the broom-handle, and the washboard.
1902 E. Banks Autobiogr. Newspaper Girl 158 Clothes washed by her own hands on an American washboard in a big wooden tub.
c. A washboard (sense 3b) used as a percussion instrument; hence, the kind of music produced by bands using this instrument. Frequently attributive.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > other musical instruments > [noun] > washboard
washboard1925
rub-board1964
1925 J. Taylor (title of musical composition) Wash~board blues.
1933 Gramophone June 26/1 Washboard bands are the red-nosed comedians of dance music... They usually play about with delightfully inconsequent tunes.
1933 Gramophone June 26/1 There is a good deal to be said for Yes Suh..by the Washboard Rhythm Kings... The gent on the washboard is a dexterous performer.
1946 R. Blesh Shining Trumpets (1949) v. 104 Exotic instruments may be utilized as well, such as harmonica, kazoo, jug, washboard, wood blocks and musical saw.
1947 R. de Toledano Frontiers of Jazz 107 The first washboard was recorded by me.
1961 W. Sansom Last Hours of Sandra Lee vii. 173 There came a machine slamming of washboard music and wailing voices that sounded as if they were lost in a large, echoing cave.
1973 J. Marks Mick Jagger (1974) 56 Washboard was also fair enough, if you wanted that sort of sound... You know..more or less a primitive sort of Chicago sound.
1973 J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 174 Instead of a drummer there was a young kid with a washboard and thimbles.
4. figurative. A corrugated surface, esp. of a road.
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the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > corrugation > [noun] > corrugated surface
washboard1934
1934 in Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang.
1950 J. Dempsey Championship Fighting 186 Bending exercises are best to develop the stomach muscles into a protective ‘washboard’ against body blows.
1968 G. Jones Hist. Vikings iii. i. 156 Not only a ‘washboard’ of wide furrows is visible, but even the wheel-tracks of the viking farmer's last carting.
1976 L. Deighton Twinkle, twinkle, Little Spy xxiii. 226 The going changed to the gravelly surface of the ‘reg’ and then to rough ‘washboard’.
1979 Tucson (Arizona) Mag. Apr. 51/1 The long gravel drive to its shore..tends to turn into a washboard in the drier summer months.
Compounds
attributive as adj. Corrugated, furrowed, esp. as a result of weather and usage.
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the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > corrugation > [adjective]
plaited1519
corded1758
corrugated1853
corduroy1865
crinkle1886
washboard1913
1913 Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. 24 145 The till sheet over large areas has been rubbed into a fluted or wash~board form on a large scale, but with low relief.
1936 Trans. Royal Soc. Canada 30 iv. 10 In the general area where these wash-board moraines were noted there are extensive sand plains.
1949 Consumer Rep. Jan. 8/1 Pick out a hubbly surface or a ‘washboard’ gravel road.
1953 W. Moore Bring Jubilee (1955) i. 6 The morasses or wash~board roads which were the only highways.
1968 R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 989/2 Steep valley slopes [in a rain forest] typically have a washboard topography, a simple parallel consequent drainage system.
1976 New Motorcycling Monthly Oct. 6/3 Washboard surfaces would set the rear wheel pattering.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.adj.1753