Dictionary

washboard en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From wash + board.

Meanings

1. A board with a corrugated surface against which laundry may be rubbed.
   • Numerous washing machines have been invented to save the fair sex from the severe labor of the Wash-board. 1847, editorial staff, “Washing Machine”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 3, Issue 9, page 68:
2. Such a board used as a simple percussion instrument.
3. A board fastened along a ship's gunwale to prevent splashing; a splashboard.
4. A stretch of ripples or bumps on a dirt or gravel road caused by interaction between traffic and road surface.
   • Franklin is beside himself, revving up the engine in the pickup. As I jump in, he spins out and takes off up the road in the direction the plane came from, bouncing dangerously over washboards and ruts. 2009, Chinle Miller, Desert Rats: Adventures in the American Outback, page 35:
   • It's a rough trip no matter how you come, for these washboard roads will loosen up even brandnew cars pretty fast; and hitchhikers always find the going bad. 1948, Truman Capote, Other Voices, Other Rooms, Part One, 1:
   • washboard road
5. (colloquial) A flat-chested woman.
   • He slowly raised his head to look at me. "Shut it, washboard." "Huh?!" Here I was trying to comfort him, and what did I get for my troubles? An insult. 2022 November 18, Saitosa, Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It! Volume 2, J-Novel Club, →ISBN:
6. (abbreviation, alt-of, colloquial, ellipsis) Ellipsis of washboard abs.
   alt of washboard abs
7. (dated) Baseboard; skirting board.

Forms

Deriveds

coconut washboard · washboard abs · washboardist

Translations (46)

cs valcha (board to do laundry) · he קרש כביסה (board to do laundry) · pt tanquinho (board to do laundry) · pdt Riew (board to do laundry) · sv tvättbräda (percussion instrument) · mi parengaru (a board on the gunwale of a boat to stop splashing; a splash board) · fi pyykkilauta (percussion instrument) · de Waschbrett (board to do laundry) · eo lavtabulo (board to do laundry) · ko 워시보드 (percussion instrument) · mrw batalan (board to do laundry) · nl wasbord (board to do laundry) · pt costeleta (stretch of ripples) · mi paretai (a board on the gunwale of a boat to stop splashing; a splash board) · bg дъска за пране (board to do laundry) · de Waschbrett (percussion instrument) · fi roiskesuoja (a board on the gunwale of a boat to stop splashing; a splash board) · es serrucho (stretch of ripples) · fr planche à laver (board to do laundry) · mi pāiri (a board on the gunwale of a boat to stop splashing; a splash board) · ale duskax̂ (board to do laundry) · nb vaskebrett (board to do laundry) · ja ウォッシュボード (percussion instrument) · da vaskebræt (board to do laundry) · tr çamaşır tahtası (board to do laundry) · ja 洗濯板 (board to do laundry) · it asse per il bucato (board to do laundry) · sv tvättbräda (board to do laundry) · ru стира́льная доска́ (percussion instrument) · eu latsazur (board to do laundry) · fi pyykkilauta (board to do laundry) · pl tara (board to do laundry) · es lavadero (board to do laundry) · mi rauawa (a board on the gunwale of a boat to stop splashing; a splash board) · ru стира́льная доска́ (board to do laundry) · ko 빨래판 (board to do laundry) · nl zetbord (a board on the gunwale of a boat to stop splashing; a splash board) · it asse per lavare (board to do laundry) · de Wellblech (stretch of ripples) · mk перална даска (board to do laundry) · fr planche à laver (percussion instrument) · nn vaskebrett (board to do laundry) · cmn 洗衣板 (board to do laundry) · fi räve (a board on the gunwale of a boat to stop splashing; a splash board) · uk пральна дошка (board to do laundry) · gl lavadoiro (board to do laundry)

washboard en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From wash + board.

Meanings

1. To produce a rippled texture on a surface.
   • She drove as fast as she dared, braking for the frost heaves that washboarded the blacktop and on her dirt road, bouncing in and out of the clay ruts cut by the flow of runoff. 2001, Phoebe:
   • Doug came up with a half-guilty smile and washboarded his forehead at her. 1967, James Jones, Go to the Widow-Maker, page 515:
   • The low bass brruummmp of 20-mm slugs going out washboarded the bulkheads. 1997, David Poyer, The Passage: A Thriller, →ISBN:
   • The rip that was generated by each change of tide had scoured the bottom white and washboarded the sand where it was still layered over the hardpan coral floor. 1992, Ocean Realm, page 17:
2. To play a washboard.
   • It's almost as if the urge to washboard is intrinsically human. 2008, The New Yorker, page 28:
3. (qualifier:bees) To move up and down or back and forth across the surface of a hive, possibly to lay down a layer of propolis and wax.
   • This behaviour is believed to be associated with general cleaning activities but under what circumstances workers washboard is not known. 2015, Robert Owen, The Australian Beekeeping Manual, →ISBN, page 19-51:
   • Individual bees have been observed washboarding on the inside glass of an observation hive. 2015, James E. Tew, The Beekeeper's Problem Solver, →ISBN, page 73:

Forms