washboard

American  

[wosh-bawrd, -bohrd, wawsh-] / ˈwɒʃˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd, ˈwɔʃ- /

noun

washboards plural

1. a rectangular board or frame, typically with a corrugated metallic surface, on which clothes are rubbed in the process of washing.

2. a baseboard around the walls of a room.

3. Also called splashboard.  Nautical.

   1. a thin, broad plank fastened to and projecting above the gunwale or side of a boat to keep out the spray and sea.

   2. a similar board on the sill of a port.

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adjective

1. resembling a washboard in being rough and bumpy.

   a washboard roadbed.

washboard British  

/ ˈwɒʃˌbɔːd /

noun

1. a board having a surface, usually of corrugated metal, on which esp formerly, clothes were scrubbed

2. such a board used as a rhythm instrument played with the fingers in skiffle, Country and Western music, etc

3. a less common US word for skirting board

4. nautical

   1. a vertical planklike shield fastened to the gunwales of a boat to prevent water from splashing over the side

   2. Also called: splashboard.  a shield under a port for the same purpose

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• washboardy
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• washboards
  plural

Etymology

Origin of washboard

First recorded in 1735–45; wash + board

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

washboard washboards

Rice recalls the washboard abs of the ’90s; the athletic build of the early 2000s; the quest, in the 2010s, for tiny waists and huge biceps.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026

The Raptor isn’t built so much for climbing tricky terrain — although it can do that, too — as it is crossing dirt, mud, dust and washboard roads at speed.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 5, 2024

His grandmother washed the Arsenal players' kit on an iron washboard behind the North Bank stand, previously known as the Laundry End.

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2023

While both are dance music that trades in old melodies, the latter features electric guitar and washboard and comes at you “like a freight train.”

From New York Times ● May 12, 2022

Call, standing on the port washboard, had sighted the head of what seemed to be a large sea terrapin and was fixing on it a fierce concentration.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

The fictitious Midlands family chain began by selling washboards and tinned pies in 1923.

From BBC ● May 11, 2022

The washboards are used in lieu of canvases and are loaded with symbolism.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 30, 2018

The works employ vintage washboards as a central motif in exploring aspects of black female identity in U.S. history.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2017

I could even make out the small, leafy squares where young buskers play their guitars and washboards on one corner, while a group of young homeless men panhandle for coffee on another.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2015

Both had elegant yellow cedar washboards, ash frames, Sitka-spruce gunnels, fore and after decking made of silk impregnated with varnish.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown