Unknown. Possibly related to dialectal Swedish skvabb (“fatty, flabby”). First attested in the 17th century.
Meanings
Fat; thick; plump; bulky.
Nor the squab daughter nor the wife were nice. 1712, Thomas Betterton, The Miller of Trompington:
So on his Nightmare through the evening fog / Flits the squab fiend o'er fen, and lake, and bog […]. 1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants, J. Johnson, page 93:
Unfledged; unfeathered.
broken limbs of trees, eggs, and young squab pigeons precipitated from above 1836, Richard King, Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Arctic Ocean:
Unknown. Possibly related to dialectal Swedish skvabb (“fatty, flabby”). First attested in the 17th century.
Meanings
(not-comparable, slang) With a heavy fall; plump.
The eagle took the tortoise up into the air, and dropped him down, squab, upon a rock. 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
Unknown. Possibly related to dialectal Swedish skvabb (“fatty, flabby”). First attested in the 17th century.
Meanings
(attributive, countable, sometimes, uncountable) A fledgling (young) bird. ▸ A young dove or pigeon.
(attributive, countable, sometimes, uncountable) A fledgling (young) bird. ▸ A young chicken.
(attributive, countable, sometimes, uncountable) A fledgling (young) bird. ▸ A young rook.
(uncountable) The meat of a young dove or pigeon, typically under four weeks old, used as food.
Squab may be consumed by ripping the bird apart with your hands and sucking the meat from the bones. 2022, Jennifer Egan, The Candy House, Corsair, page 207:
(countable) A thick cushion, especially a flat one covering the seat of a chair or sofa.
a. 1744, Alexander Pope (imitating Earl of Dorset), Artemisia, 1795, Robert Anderson (editor), A Complete Edition of the Poets of Great Britain, page 86,
On her large ſquab you find her ſpread, / Like a fat corpſe upon a bed, / That lies and ſtinks in ſtate.
Another feature new to British Railways is the provision of two-position adjustable seats in the first class compartments. In this design, the seat squab can be pulled out some six inches, the seat back being attached to the seat to give a less upright sitting position. 1957 August 14, “New Multiple-Unit Stock for Hastings and Watford Services”, in Railway Magazine, page 532:
[H]erds of shabby vampires, Jew and Christian, over-run the house, [...] punching the squabs of chairs and sofas with their dirty fists, touzling the feather-beds, opening and shutting all the drawers, balancing the silver spoons and forks, looking into the very threads of the drapery and linen, and disparaging everything. 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Retribution”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 591:
(countable) A person of a short, fat figure.
Gorgonius sits abdominous and wan, / Like a fat squab upon a Chinese fan: a. 1800, William Cowper, “The Progress of Error”, in Poems of William Cowper, Esq, published 1824, page 28:
fr petit de la corneille (young rook) · pt borracho (young dove or pigeon) · sv råkunge (young rook) · uk голубеня (young dove or pigeon) · ru голубёнок (young dove or pigeon) · fr pigeonneau (young dove or pigeon) · sv duvunge (young dove or pigeon) · eo kolombidoviando (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · cs holoubě (young dove or pigeon) · fr petit du freux (young rook) · ko 비둘기고기 (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · sh golupče (young dove or pigeon) · ar جَوْزَل (young dove or pigeon) · vo pijunülamit (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · fi mustavariksen poikanen (young rook) · ru голубя́тина (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · hu díványpárna (thick cushion) · cmn 乳鴿 /乳鸽 (young dove or pigeon) · fr colombeau (young dove or pigeon) · sv soffkudde (thick cushion) · pt coxim (thick cushion) · ka ხუნდი (young dove or pigeon) · de Täubchen (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · hy դոխ (young dove or pigeon) · sh golubić (young dove or pigeon) · hy աղավնյակ (young dove or pigeon) · hu varjúfióka (young dove or pigeon) · ca colomí (young dove or pigeon) · el νεοσσός τρυπανοκόρακα (young rook) · ar زُغْلُول (young dove or pigeon) · hu galambfióka (young dove or pigeon) · eo kolombidaĵo (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · es pichón (young dove or pigeon) · pt borracho (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · de Taubenbaby (young dove or pigeon) · fr bébé freux (young rook) · eo kolombido (young dove or pigeon) · hu varjúfióka (young rook) · el μαξιλάρα (thick cushion) · fr pigeonneau (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · de Taubenküken (young dove or pigeon) · ru поду́шка (thick cushion) · cmn 乳鴿肉 /乳鸽肉 (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · uk голуб'я (young dove or pigeon) · de Täubchenfleisch (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · el πιτσούνι (young dove or pigeon) · ru голу́бка (young dove or pigeon) · fi kyyhkysenpoikanen (young dove or pigeon) · de ungefiederte Jungtaube (young dove or pigeon) · es palomino (young dove or pigeon) · pl gołąbek (young dove or pigeon) · el νεογνό τρυπανοκόρακα (young rook) · bg твърда възглавница (thick cushion) · grc περιστεριδεύς (young dove or pigeon) · ru голубо́к (young dove or pigeon) · yue 乳鴿 /乳鸽 (young dove or pigeon) · fi istuintyyny (thick cushion) · cmn 墊子 /垫子 (thick cushion) · pl gawronię (young rook) · pl gołębię (young dove or pigeon) · vi thịt bồ câu (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · vo pijunül (young dove or pigeon) · fr colombelle (young dove or pigeon) · fi kyyhkysenliha (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · de Jungtaube (young dove or pigeon) · hy աղավնու ձագ (young dove or pigeon) · es pichón (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · rsk голубчецина (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · bg неоперено пиле (young dove or pigeon) · fr bébé corneille (young rook) · sk holúbä (young dove or pigeon) · el πιτσούνι (meat of a young dove or pigeon) · sh goluždravac (young rook)