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# washboard

noun (a washboard, washboards)

«washboard» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A board with ridges on it, once used for scrubbing clothes when washing them by hand. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/washboard/#m1)
2. A washboard used as a musical instrument, played by scraping it, in skiffle and folk music. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/washboard/#m2)
3. (informal) Washboard stomach: very flat, strong stomach muscles. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/washboard/#m3)
4. A bumpy dirt road with ridges is called washboard road (North America). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/washboard/#m4)

### In the lessons

A history and everyday word. Before washing machines, people scrubbed clothes on a washboard in a tub. In The Wind in the Willows Toad escapes prison dressed as a washerwoman and later has to wash clothes on a barge — and is no good at it. In music, washboards are played in skiffle and jug bands.

### Examples

- Grandma's grandma scrubbed shirts on a washboard. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/washboard/#x1)
- Toad tried to wash the clothes but splashed everywhere. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/washboard/#x2)
- The skiffle band had a guitar and a washboard. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/washboard/#x3)
- The museum had an old tin washboard. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/washboard/#x4)
- The dirt road was like a washboard. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/washboard/#x5)
- He scraped the washboard with thimbles on his fingers. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/washboard/#x6)

### Note

Countable noun, plural «washboards». Compound of «wash» + «board».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «washboard» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/washboard/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«washboard» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/washboard.html) on Mova free.