squab

[ skwob ]
See synonyms for squab on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural squabs, (especially collectively for 1) squab.
  1. a nestling pigeon, especially a domesticated one raised to an age of about 30 days for its flesh.

  2. Cooking. the flesh of the squab, used as food: Our squab was served with a butter and raisin sauce.

  1. a short, stout person.

  2. a thickly stuffed, soft cushion.

adjective
  1. short and thick or broad.

  2. (of a bird) unfledged or newly hatched.

Origin of squab

1
First recorded in 1630–40; probably from Scandinavian; compare Swedish dialect skvabb “loose, fat flesh,” skvabba “fat woman,” Norwegian skvabb “soft wet mass”

Words Nearby squab

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use squab in a sentence

  • The squab young we brought down and placed on the grass-plot, where they tumbled about, and were as helpless as a new-born child.

  • One hundred nests will often be found upon a single tree, and in each nest there is but one “squab.”

    The Hunters' Feast | Mayne Reid
  • Its great prolificacy, strong constitution, quick growth, and large size make it a favorite with squab growers.

    Our Domestic Birds | John H. Robinson
  • Near large cities where the demand for squabs is good, squab growing on a large scale is sometimes successful.

    Our Domestic Birds | John H. Robinson

British Dictionary definitions for squab

squab

/ (skwɒb) /


nounplural squabs or squab
  1. a young unfledged bird, esp a pigeon

  2. a short fat person

    • a well-stuffed bolster or cushion

    • a sofa

adjective
  1. (of birds) recently hatched and still unfledged

  2. short and fat

Origin of squab

1
C17: probably of Germanic origin; compare Swedish dialect sqvabb flabby skin, sqvabba fat woman, German Quabbe soft mass, Norwegian kvabb mud

Derived forms of squab

  • squabby, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012