drabn.¹

Brit.

/drab/, U.S.

/dræb/

Forms: Also 1500s drabe, 1500s–1600s drabb(e.

Etymology: Not known before 16th cent.; derivation uncertain: probably at first a low or cant word. Evidently connected with Irish drabog, Gaelic drabag dirty female, slattern; but evidence is wanting to show which is the original. Connection with Low German drabbe dirt, mire, has also been suggested.

I. An untidy woman and related senses.

1. A dirty and untidy woman; a slut, slattern.

ΘΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirty person > [noun] > woman or girl

slut1402

dawa1500

drab?1518

dawkin1565

suss?1565

mab1568

drassock1573

daggle-tail1577

drossel1581

driggle-draggle1588

draggle-tail1596

soss1611

slatternc1640

slutterya1652

feague1664

traipse1676

drazel1678

mopsy1699

dab1736

slammerkin1737

rubbacrock1746

trollop1753

dratchell1755

heap1806

dolly-mop1834

sozzle1848

tat1936

scrubber1959

?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. C.j Sluttes drabbes and counseyll whystelers.

1526 R. Whitford tr. Martiloge (1893) 36 Saynt Tabite was holden a fole and drabbe of kechyn.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 215/1 Drabbe a slutte, uilotiere.

1708 W. King Art of Cookery 21 So at an Irish Funeral appears A train of Drabs, with Mercenary Tears.

1816 W. Scott Old Mortality viii, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. II. 171 A dirty drab of a house-maid.

1871 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch (1872) I. i. xi.164 Who ended by living up an entry with a drab and six children for their establishment.

2. A harlot, prostitute, strumpet.

ΘΠ

society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > a prostitute

meretrixOE

whoreOE

soiled dovea1250

common womanc1330

putec1384

bordel womanc1405

putaina1425

brothelc1450

harlot?a1475

public womanc1510

naughty pack?1529

draba1533

cat1535

strange woman1535

stew1552

causey-paikera1555

putanie?1566

drivelling1570

twigger1573

punka1575

hackney1579

customer1583

commodity1591

streetwalker1591

traffic1591

trug1591

hackster1592

polecat1593

stale1593

mermaid1595

medlar1597

occupant1598

Paphian1598

Winchester goose1598

pagan1600

hell-moth1602

aunt1604

moll1604

prostitution1605

community1606

miss1606

night-worm1606

bat1607

croshabell1607

prostitute1607

pug1607

venturer1607

nag1608

curtal1611

jumbler1611

land-frigate1611

walk-street1611

doll-common1612

turn-up1612

barber's chaira1616

commonera1616

public commonera1616

trader1615

venturea1616

stewpot1616

tweak1617

carry-knave1623

prostibule1623

fling-dusta1625

mar-taila1625

night-shadea1625

waistcoateera1625

night trader1630

coolera1632

meretrician1631

painted ladya1637

treadle1638

buttock1641

night-walker1648

mob?1650

lady (also girl, etc.) of the game1651

lady of pleasure1652

trugmullion1654

fallen woman1659

girlc1662

high-flyer1663

fireship1665

quaedama1670

small girl1671

visor-mask1672

vizard-mask1672

bulker1673

marmalade-madam1674

town miss1675

town woman1675

lady of the night1677

mawks1677

fling-stink1679

Whetstone whore1684

man-leech1687

nocturnal1693

hack1699

strum1699

fille de joie1705

market-dame1706

screw1725

girl of (the) town1733

Cytherean1751

street girl1764

monnisher1765

lady of easy virtue1766

woman (also lady) of the town1766

kennel-nymph1771

chicken1782

stargazer1785

loose fish1809

receiver general1811

Cyprian1819

mollya1822

dolly-mop1834

hooker1845

charver1846

tail1846

horse-breaker1861

professional1862

flagger1865

cocodette1867

cocotte1867

queen's woman1871

common prostitute1875

joro1884

geisha1887

horizontal1888

flossy1893

moth1896

girl of the pavement1900

pross1902

prossie1902

pusher1902

split-arse mechanic1903

broad1914

shawl1922

bum1923

quiff1923

hustler1924

lady of the evening1924

prostie1926

working girl1928

prostisciutto1930

maggie1932

brass1934

brass nail1934

mud kicker1934

scupper1935

model1936

poule de luxe1937

pro1937

chromo1941

Tom1941

pan-pan1949

twopenny upright1958

scrubber1959

slack1959

yum-yum girl1960

Suzie Wong1962

mattress1964

jamette1965

ho1966

sex worker1971

pavement princess1976

parlour girl1979

crack whore1990

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) lxxxvi. sig. Yv And than shall the drabbe my doughter be mured vp in a stone wall.

1547 A. Borde Breuiary of Helthe ii. f. vii Gene the knaue or drab a philip with a club.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. i. 31 Birth-strangled Babe, Ditch-deliuer'd by a Drab .

1675 E. Cocker Morals 15 Drink, Dice, and Drabs, three dange'rous Dees.

1731 J. Swift Answer to Simile in Wks. (1755) IV. i. 223 Each drab has been compared to Venus.

1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh v. 209 And said ‘my sister’ to the lowest drab Of all the assembled castaways.

in extended use.1589 J. Lyly Pappe with Hatchet D iv b There is no more sullen beast, than a he drab.

II. The following are probably distinct words.

3. Salt-making. See quot. 1753 and cf. crib n. 9.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > salt manufacture > [noun] > equipment

pail1481

walling-lead1611

walma1661

Neptune1662

loot1669

ship1669

clearerc1682

cribc1682

barrow1686

hovel1686

leach-trough1686

salt-pan1708

sun pond1708

sun pan1724

scrape-pan1746

taplin1748

drab1753

room1809

thorn house1853

thorn-wall1853

fore-heater1880

pike1884

trunk1885

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Drabs, in the English salt works, a name given to a sort of wooden cases into which the salt is put, as soon as it is taken out of the boiling pan..Their bottoms are made..gradually inclining forwards; by which means the saline liquor that remains mixed with the salt easily drains out. In some places they use cribs instead of the Drabs.

4. A small or petty sum (of money); esp. in dribs and drabs: see drib n. Additions b.

ΘΠ

society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [noun] > small sum

parcelc1400

plack1530

dodkinc1555

triflec1595

denier1597

driblet1659

song1698

Flanders-fortune1699

pin money1702

doit1728

drab1828

picayune1838

sprat1883

shoestring1904

peanut1910

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Drab, a small debt. ‘He's gain away for good, and he's left some drabs’.

1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words

1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 190/1 None of us save money; it goes either in a lump, if we get a lump, or in dribs and drabs.

1888 Daily News 19 Apr. 3/5 It [the payment] was received in dribs and drabs.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

drabn.²adj.n.

Brit.

/drab/, U.S.

/dræb/

Etymology: In early quotations apparently synonymous with drap cloth (see quot. 1721 at sense A. from Bailey, and compare Drap-de-Berry n.). Conjectured to have been applied to a hempen, linen, or woollen cloth of the natural undyed colour, whence attributive in drap or drab colour, i.e. the colour of this cloth, and thus to have gradually become an adjective of colour: compare rose, pink, salmon, etc. as colour names.

A. n.²

A kind of cloth: see quots.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from wool > [noun] > from specific place

staminc1440

Florence1483

Taunton1499

bridgwaterc1503

tostocke1511

Tavistock1535

drab1541

Dunster1546

wadmal1572

pinwhite1604

Drap-de-Berry1619

cantaloon1711

West of England1840

Spanish stripes1875

1541 in Lancs. & Cheshire Wills 80 Ij drabs of teir of hempe, a drab of new canvis.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Drap (Fr.), cloath, Woollen-cloath.

1718 Free-thinker No. 42. 2 To smile on a Brocade, more than upon a Brown Drap.]

1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. at Drap Drap, Drab, cloth, woollen Cloth.

1740 W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict. (ed. 3) Drab, an extraordinary sort of woollen cloth, chiefly worn in the winter-time.

1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea II. i. v. 20 British Woollens, such as hair-list drabs..We improved some of our drabs, so as to be almost equal to the dutch cloths in the substance.

1772 S. Scott Test Filial Duty II. 220 Collin, whose wedding coat is a new white drap.]

B. adj.

a. Of a dull light-brown or yellowish-brown.

ΘΠ

the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [adjective] > dull brown

duneOE

dunned1430

dunnisha1529

dunnya1529

drab-coloured1715

drab1775

1686 London Gaz. No. 2100/4 The one with a Drapp-colour cloth Campaigne Coat.]

1715 [see drab-coloured adj. at Compounds 1]. 1768 [see drab-coloured adj. at Compounds 1].

1775 J. Ash New Dict. Eng. Lang. Drab (adj. with clothiers), belonging to a gradation of plain colours betwixt a white and a dark brown.

1803 S. Pegge Anecd. Eng. Lang. 266 Hence our drab cloth, pure and undied cloth, and they call this a drab colour in the trade.

1832 G. Downes Lett. from Continental Countries I. 523 The cottages..were of a deep drab hue.

1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) iii. 25 He wore wide drab trousers.

1865 Sat. Rev. 12 Aug. Male Quakers have..discarded broadbrimmed hats and drab breeches.

b. figurative. Dull; wanting brightness or colour.

ΘΠ

the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > dull coloured

wannish?a1412

colourless1557

sullena1586

sober1603

dingy1665

dunduckety1818

duckety1841

drabbish1842

neutral-tinted1844

drabby1862

drab1880

drably-tinted1891

terne1901

the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious

dreicha1300

alangec1330

joylessa1400

tedious1412

wearifulc1454

weary1465

laboriousa1475

tiresome?a1513

irksome1513

wearisome1530

woodena1566

irkful1570

flat1573

leaden1593

barren1600

soaked1600

unlively1608

dulla1616

irking1629

drearisome1633

drear1645

plumbous1651

fatigable1656

dreary1667

uncurious1685

unenlivened1692

blank1726

disinteresting1737

stupid1748

stagnant1749

trist?1756

vegetable1757

borish1766

uninteresting1769

unenlivening1774

oorie1787

wearying1796

subjectless1803

yawny1805

wearing1811

stuffy1813

sloomy1820

tediousome1823

arid1827

lacklustrous1834

boring1839

featureless1839

slow1840

sodden1853

ennuying1858

dusty1860

cabbagy1861

old1864

mouldy1876

yawnful1878

drab1880

dehydrated1884

interestless1886

jay1889

boresome1895

stodgy1895

stuffy1895

yawnsome1900

sludgy1901

draggy1922

blah1937

nowhere1940

drack1945

stupefactive1970

schleppy1978

wack1986

1880 R. Broughton Second Thoughts I. i. iv The little drab day has already dropped in the maw of..night.

1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 27 Feb. 1/2 The lives of the people..are dull and drab; a round of work with but little amusement.

c. In combination with other names of colours.

1894 R. B. Sharpe Hand-bk. Birds Great Brit. I. 12 Sides of neck and under surface of body drab-grey.

1905 Westm. Gaz. 15 May 10/2 The rather soft fur of the underparts is drab-brown.

C. n. [absolute use of the adjective.]

a. Drab colour; cloth or clothing of this colour; esp. in plural = drab breeches.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers > types of > breeches > other

sausage-hosea1637

buckskina1658

trouser breeches1724

Petershams1819

drab1821

trunks1825

plushes1838

puff breechesc1843

1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 38 Milk-maids..Threw ‘cotton drabs’ and ‘worsted hose’ away.

1824 M. R. Mitford Our Village I. 201 Woe to white gowns! woe to black! Drab was your only wear.

1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xiv. 124 A short old gentleman, in drabs and gaiters.

1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 June 5/1 Silk gowns of Quaker drab.

b. South African (plural) The long feathers on the part of the wing of a female ostrich near to the junction with the body. (In quot. 1896 drab is an adjective.)

ΚΠ

1881 A. Douglass Ostrich Farming S. Afr. xi. 68 The little white belly feathers should have been replaced by blacks or drabs.

1896 R. Wallace Farming Industries Cape Colony xi. 235 Drab, long, and medium were about 10s. per lb. lower.

1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 167 Drabs, corresponding growth from the female.

c. figurative. A dull or lifeless appearance or character.

ΘΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [noun] > tedious or dull appearance, quality, or expression

drab1903

1903 Daily Chron. 31 Dec. 5/1 Despite the fact that so many of his works wore a drab, still those who knew him best recognised that the drab was the colour of his experience.

1909 Westm. Gaz. 4 Feb. 1/3 It is the one sustained note of colour in the dreary drab of Irish life.

2. Collector's name for a group of moths.

1819 G. Samouelle Entomologist's Compend. 370 Noctua angusta. The dark Drab. Noctua geminata. The twin-spotted Drab.

1869 E. Newman Illustr. Nat. Hist. Brit. Moths 358 The clouded Drab (Tæniocampa instabilis).

Compounds

C1.

drab-breeched adj.

drab-coloured adj.

ΘΠ

the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [adjective] > dull brown

duneOE

dunned1430

dunnisha1529

dunnya1529

drab-coloured1715

drab1775

1715 London Gaz. No. 5328/4 Dark Drap colour'd Coat.

1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 105 Dress'd in a dark drab-colour'd coat.

1843 S. Smith Lett. on Amer. Debts in Wks. (1859) II. 330/1 Drab-coloured men of Pennsylvania.

drab-tinted adj.

C2.

drab-coat adj. wearing a drab coat, drab-coated.

1848 J. G. Whittier Peace Con. at Brus. in Poems (1882) 149 The dull, meek droning of a drab-coat seer.

Derivatives

ˈdrably adv. in drab colour; also figurative, without brightness or colour, dully, uninterestingly; in combination, as drably-clad, drably-tinted.

ΘΠ

the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > dull coloured

wannish?a1412

colourless1557

sullena1586

sober1603

dingy1665

dunduckety1818

duckety1841

drabbish1842

neutral-tinted1844

drabby1862

drab1880

drably-tinted1891

terne1901

the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adverb] > in wearisome or tedious manner

irksomely1549

tediously1557

leaden-like1574

drearily1579

dully1600

Welshly1629

unlively1641

woodenly1653

stupidly1723

uninterestingly1793

soporifically1807

sloomy1820

wearyingly1829

boringly1840

tiresomely1847

aridly1883

drably1891

stuffily1894

stodgily1904

yawnsomely1908

yawnfully1914

1891 H. C. Halliday Someone must Suffer II. xii. 217 That drably-tinted lady.

1905 Westm. Gaz. 19 Sept. 10/1 Few guess that the dahlia..has had a drably unromantic origin.

1918 Cornhill Mag. June 616 The desirability of expressing thoughts fully and truly in words..is too drably presented to the child.

1927 Sunday Express 1 May 9 Their novels look drably old-fashioned.

1956 Ann. Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 216 The sun's interior must be drably uniform.

ˈdrabman n. humorous a quaker.Apparently an isolated use.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Quakerism > [noun] > person

meeter1646

shaker1648

Quaker1651

friend1656

yea-and-nay1685

trembler1689

Whaker1700

broad-brim1749

plain Friend1774

shad-belly1842

drabman1860

1860 All Year Round 28 July 378 Labouring..at our target practice, long before the drowsy drabmen have moved from their pillows.

ˈdrabness n. drab quality.

ΘΠ

the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [noun] > dullness

dinginess1758

dinge1846

sombreness1847

drabbiness1872

drabness1878

1878 M. E. Braddon Open Verdict viii. 60 Though the paint was mostly gone a general drabness remained.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

drabv.

Brit.

/drab/, U.S.

/dræb/

Etymology: < drab n.¹

intransitive. To associate with harlots; to whore. Also to drab it.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [verb (intransitive)] > frequent prostitutes

drab1603

punk1716

1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. i. 27 Drincking, swearing, or drabbing.

a1624 Bp. M. Smith Serm. (1632) 276 He is the true gentleman now adayes, that can drinke and drab it best.

1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth III. 48 I'll drink and drab.

1853 Blackwood's Mag. Dec. 110 He would have drunk and diced, drabbed and hunted.

Derivatives

ˈdrabbing n.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > frequenting prostitutes

drabbery1570

fleshing1598

drabbinga1611

strumpeting1656

a1611 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Triumph Death vi Drunkenness, and drabbing, thy two morals.

1820 W. Scott Monastery III. x. 254 Nothing but dicing, drinking, and drabbing.

† ˈdrabber n. Obsolete a whoremonger.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > frequenting prostitutes > one who

whore hunter?1506

strumpetier1633

drabbera1640

chippy chaser1887

mush1972

a1640 P. Massinger City-Madam (1658) iv. ii. 10 A most insatiate drabber.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

n.¹?1518

n.²adj.n.1541

v.1603

单词	drab
释义	drabn.¹ Brit. /drab/, U.S. /dræb/ Forms: Also 1500s drabe, 1500s–1600s drabb(e. Etymology: Not known before 16th cent.; derivation uncertain: probably at first a low or cant word. Evidently connected with Irish drabog, Gaelic drabag dirty female, slattern; but evidence is wanting to show which is the original. Connection with Low German drabbe dirt, mire, has also been suggested. I. An untidy woman and related senses. 1. A dirty and untidy woman; a slut, slattern. ΘΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirty person > [noun] > woman or girl slut1402 dawa1500 drab?1518 dawkin1565 suss?1565 mab1568 drassock1573 daggle-tail1577 drossel1581 driggle-draggle1588 draggle-tail1596 soss1611 slatternc1640 slutterya1652 feague1664 traipse1676 drazel1678 mopsy1699 dab1736 slammerkin1737 rubbacrock1746 trollop1753 dratchell1755 heap1806 dolly-mop1834 sozzle1848 tat1936 scrubber1959 ?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. C.j Sluttes drabbes and counseyll whystelers. 1526 R. Whitford tr. Martiloge (1893) 36 Saynt Tabite was holden a fole and drabbe of kechyn. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 215/1 Drabbe a slutte, uilotiere. 1708 W. King Art of Cookery 21 So at an Irish Funeral appears A train of Drabs, with Mercenary Tears. 1816 W. Scott Old Mortality viii, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. II. 171 A dirty drab of a house-maid. 1871 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch (1872) I. i. xi.164 Who ended by living up an entry with a drab and six children for their establishment. 2. A harlot, prostitute, strumpet. ΘΠ society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > a prostitute meretrixOE whoreOE soiled dovea1250 common womanc1330 putec1384 bordel womanc1405 putaina1425 brothelc1450 harlot?a1475 public womanc1510 naughty pack?1529 draba1533 cat1535 strange woman1535 stew1552 causey-paikera1555 putanie?1566 drivelling1570 twigger1573 punka1575 hackney1579 customer1583 commodity1591 streetwalker1591 traffic1591 trug1591 hackster1592 polecat1593 stale1593 mermaid1595 medlar1597 occupant1598 Paphian1598 Winchester goose1598 pagan1600 hell-moth1602 aunt1604 moll1604 prostitution1605 community1606 miss1606 night-worm1606 bat1607 croshabell1607 prostitute1607 pug1607 venturer1607 nag1608 curtal1611 jumbler1611 land-frigate1611 walk-street1611 doll-common1612 turn-up1612 barber's chaira1616 commonera1616 public commonera1616 trader1615 venturea1616 stewpot1616 tweak1617 carry-knave1623 prostibule1623 fling-dusta1625 mar-taila1625 night-shadea1625 waistcoateera1625 night trader1630 coolera1632 meretrician1631 painted ladya1637 treadle1638 buttock1641 night-walker1648 mob?1650 lady (also girl, etc.) of the game1651 lady of pleasure1652 trugmullion1654 fallen woman1659 girlc1662 high-flyer1663 fireship1665 quaedama1670 small girl1671 visor-mask1672 vizard-mask1672 bulker1673 marmalade-madam1674 town miss1675 town woman1675 lady of the night1677 mawks1677 fling-stink1679 Whetstone whore1684 man-leech1687 nocturnal1693 hack1699 strum1699 fille de joie1705 market-dame1706 screw1725 girl of (the) town1733 Cytherean1751 street girl1764 monnisher1765 lady of easy virtue1766 woman (also lady) of the town1766 kennel-nymph1771 chicken1782 stargazer1785 loose fish1809 receiver general1811 Cyprian1819 mollya1822 dolly-mop1834 hooker1845 charver1846 tail1846 horse-breaker1861 professional1862 flagger1865 cocodette1867 cocotte1867 queen's woman1871 common prostitute1875 joro1884 geisha1887 horizontal1888 flossy1893 moth1896 girl of the pavement1900 pross1902 prossie1902 pusher1902 split-arse mechanic1903 broad1914 shawl1922 bum1923 quiff1923 hustler1924 lady of the evening1924 prostie1926 working girl1928 prostisciutto1930 maggie1932 brass1934 brass nail1934 mud kicker1934 scupper1935 model1936 poule de luxe1937 pro1937 chromo1941 Tom1941 pan-pan1949 twopenny upright1958 scrubber1959 slack1959 yum-yum girl1960 Suzie Wong1962 mattress1964 jamette1965 ho1966 sex worker1971 pavement princess1976 parlour girl1979 crack whore1990 a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) lxxxvi. sig. Yv And than shall the drabbe my doughter be mured vp in a stone wall. 1547 A. Borde Breuiary of Helthe ii. f. vii Gene the knaue or drab a philip with a club. a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. i. 31 Birth-strangled Babe, Ditch-deliuer'd by a Drab . View more context for this quotation 1675 E. Cocker Morals 15 Drink, Dice, and Drabs, three dange'rous Dees. 1731 J. Swift Answer to Simile in Wks. (1755) IV. i. 223 Each drab has been compared to Venus. 1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh v. 209 And said ‘my sister’ to the lowest drab Of all the assembled castaways. in extended use.1589 J. Lyly Pappe with Hatchet D iv b There is no more sullen beast, than a he drab. II. The following are probably distinct words. 3. Salt-making. See quot. 1753 and cf. crib n. 9. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > salt manufacture > [noun] > equipment pail1481 walling-lead1611 walma1661 Neptune1662 loot1669 ship1669 clearerc1682 cribc1682 barrow1686 hovel1686 leach-trough1686 salt-pan1708 sun pond1708 sun pan1724 scrape-pan1746 taplin1748 drab1753 room1809 thorn house1853 thorn-wall1853 fore-heater1880 pike1884 trunk1885 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Drabs, in the English salt works, a name given to a sort of wooden cases into which the salt is put, as soon as it is taken out of the boiling pan..Their bottoms are made..gradually inclining forwards; by which means the saline liquor that remains mixed with the salt easily drains out. In some places they use cribs instead of the Drabs. 4. A small or petty sum (of money); esp. in dribs and drabs: see drib n. Additions b. ΘΠ society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [noun] > small sum parcelc1400 plack1530 dodkinc1555 triflec1595 denier1597 driblet1659 song1698 Flanders-fortune1699 pin money1702 doit1728 drab1828 picayune1838 sprat1883 shoestring1904 peanut1910 1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Drab, a small debt. ‘He's gain away for good, and he's left some drabs’. 1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words 1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 190/1 None of us save money; it goes either in a lump, if we get a lump, or in dribs and drabs. 1888 Daily News 19 Apr. 3/5 It [the payment] was received in dribs and drabs. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022). drabn.²adj.n. Brit. /drab/, U.S. /dræb/ Etymology: In early quotations apparently synonymous with drap cloth (see quot. 1721 at sense A. from Bailey, and compare Drap-de-Berry n.). Conjectured to have been applied to a hempen, linen, or woollen cloth of the natural undyed colour, whence attributive in drap or drab colour, i.e. the colour of this cloth, and thus to have gradually become an adjective of colour: compare rose, pink, salmon, etc. as colour names. A. n.² A kind of cloth: see quots. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from wool > [noun] > from specific place staminc1440 Florence1483 Taunton1499 bridgwaterc1503 tostocke1511 Tavistock1535 drab1541 Dunster1546 wadmal1572 pinwhite1604 Drap-de-Berry1619 cantaloon1711 West of England1840 Spanish stripes1875 1541 in Lancs. & Cheshire Wills 80 Ij drabs of teir of hempe, a drab of new canvis. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Drap (Fr.), cloath, Woollen-cloath. 1718 Free-thinker No. 42. 2 To smile on a Brocade, more than upon a Brown Drap.] 1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. at Drap Drap, Drab, cloth, woollen Cloth. 1740 W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict. (ed. 3) Drab, an extraordinary sort of woollen cloth, chiefly worn in the winter-time. 1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea II. i. v. 20 British Woollens, such as hair-list drabs..We improved some of our drabs, so as to be almost equal to the dutch cloths in the substance. 1772 S. Scott Test Filial Duty II. 220 Collin, whose wedding coat is a new white drap.] B. adj. a. Of a dull light-brown or yellowish-brown. ΘΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [adjective] > dull brown duneOE dunned1430 dunnisha1529 dunnya1529 drab-coloured1715 drab1775 1686 London Gaz. No. 2100/4 The one with a Drapp-colour cloth Campaigne Coat.] 1715 [see drab-coloured adj. at Compounds 1]. 1768 [see drab-coloured adj. at Compounds 1]. 1775 J. Ash New Dict. Eng. Lang. Drab (adj. with clothiers), belonging to a gradation of plain colours betwixt a white and a dark brown. 1803 S. Pegge Anecd. Eng. Lang. 266 Hence our drab cloth, pure and undied cloth, and they call this a drab colour in the trade. 1832 G. Downes Lett. from Continental Countries I. 523 The cottages..were of a deep drab hue. 1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) iii. 25 He wore wide drab trousers. 1865 Sat. Rev. 12 Aug. Male Quakers have..discarded broadbrimmed hats and drab breeches. b. figurative. Dull; wanting brightness or colour. ΘΠ the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > dull coloured wannish?a1412 colourless1557 sullena1586 sober1603 dingy1665 dunduckety1818 duckety1841 drabbish1842 neutral-tinted1844 drabby1862 drab1880 drably-tinted1891 terne1901 the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious dreicha1300 alangec1330 joylessa1400 tedious1412 wearifulc1454 weary1465 laboriousa1475 tiresome?a1513 irksome1513 wearisome1530 woodena1566 irkful1570 flat1573 leaden1593 barren1600 soaked1600 unlively1608 dulla1616 irking1629 drearisome1633 drear1645 plumbous1651 fatigable1656 dreary1667 uncurious1685 unenlivened1692 blank1726 disinteresting1737 stupid1748 stagnant1749 trist?1756 vegetable1757 borish1766 uninteresting1769 unenlivening1774 oorie1787 wearying1796 subjectless1803 yawny1805 wearing1811 stuffy1813 sloomy1820 tediousome1823 arid1827 lacklustrous1834 boring1839 featureless1839 slow1840 sodden1853 ennuying1858 dusty1860 cabbagy1861 old1864 mouldy1876 yawnful1878 drab1880 dehydrated1884 interestless1886 jay1889 boresome1895 stodgy1895 stuffy1895 yawnsome1900 sludgy1901 draggy1922 blah1937 nowhere1940 drack1945 stupefactive1970 schleppy1978 wack1986 1880 R. Broughton Second Thoughts I. i. iv The little drab day has already dropped in the maw of..night. 1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 27 Feb. 1/2 The lives of the people..are dull and drab; a round of work with but little amusement. c. In combination with other names of colours. Π 1894 R. B. Sharpe Hand-bk. Birds Great Brit. I. 12 Sides of neck and under surface of body drab-grey. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 15 May 10/2 The rather soft fur of the underparts is drab-brown. C. n. [absolute use of the adjective.] 1. a. Drab colour; cloth or clothing of this colour; esp. in plural = drab breeches. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers > types of > breeches > other sausage-hosea1637 buckskina1658 trouser breeches1724 Petershams1819 drab1821 trunks1825 plushes1838 puff breechesc1843 1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 38 Milk-maids..Threw ‘cotton drabs’ and ‘worsted hose’ away. 1824 M. R. Mitford Our Village I. 201 Woe to white gowns! woe to black! Drab was your only wear. 1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xiv. 124 A short old gentleman, in drabs and gaiters. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 June 5/1 Silk gowns of Quaker drab. b. South African (plural) The long feathers on the part of the wing of a female ostrich near to the junction with the body. (In quot. 1896 drab is an adjective.) ΚΠ 1881 A. Douglass Ostrich Farming S. Afr. xi. 68 The little white belly feathers should have been replaced by blacks or drabs. 1896 R. Wallace Farming Industries Cape Colony xi. 235 Drab, long, and medium were about 10s. per lb. lower. 1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 167 Drabs, corresponding growth from the female. c. figurative. A dull or lifeless appearance or character. ΘΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [noun] > tedious or dull appearance, quality, or expression drab1903 1903 Daily Chron. 31 Dec. 5/1 Despite the fact that so many of his works wore a drab, still those who knew him best recognised that the drab was the colour of his experience. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 4 Feb. 1/3 It is the one sustained note of colour in the dreary drab of Irish life. 2. Collector's name for a group of moths. Π 1819 G. Samouelle Entomologist's Compend. 370 Noctua angusta. The dark Drab. Noctua geminata. The twin-spotted Drab. 1869 E. Newman Illustr. Nat. Hist. Brit. Moths 358 The clouded Drab (Tæniocampa instabilis). Compounds C1. drab-breeched adj. drab-coloured adj. ΘΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [adjective] > dull brown duneOE dunned1430 dunnisha1529 dunnya1529 drab-coloured1715 drab1775 1715 London Gaz. No. 5328/4 Dark Drap colour'd Coat. 1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 105 Dress'd in a dark drab-colour'd coat. 1843 S. Smith Lett. on Amer. Debts in Wks. (1859) II. 330/1 Drab-coloured men of Pennsylvania. drab-tinted adj. C2. drab-coat adj. wearing a drab coat, drab-coated. Π 1848 J. G. Whittier Peace Con. at Brus. in Poems (1882) 149 The dull, meek droning of a drab-coat seer. Derivatives ˈdrably adv. in drab colour; also figurative, without brightness or colour, dully, uninterestingly; in combination, as drably-clad, drably-tinted. ΘΠ the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > dull coloured wannish?a1412 colourless1557 sullena1586 sober1603 dingy1665 dunduckety1818 duckety1841 drabbish1842 neutral-tinted1844 drabby1862 drab1880 drably-tinted1891 terne1901 the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adverb] > in wearisome or tedious manner irksomely1549 tediously1557 leaden-like1574 drearily1579 dully1600 Welshly1629 unlively1641 woodenly1653 stupidly1723 uninterestingly1793 soporifically1807 sloomy1820 wearyingly1829 boringly1840 tiresomely1847 aridly1883 drably1891 stuffily1894 stodgily1904 yawnsomely1908 yawnfully1914 1891 H. C. Halliday Someone must Suffer II. xii. 217 That drably-tinted lady. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 19 Sept. 10/1 Few guess that the dahlia..has had a drably unromantic origin. 1918 Cornhill Mag. June 616 The desirability of expressing thoughts fully and truly in words..is too drably presented to the child. 1927 Sunday Express 1 May 9 Their novels look drably old-fashioned. 1956 Ann. Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 216 The sun's interior must be drably uniform. ˈdrabman n. humorous a quaker.Apparently an isolated use. ΘΚΠ society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Quakerism > [noun] > person meeter1646 shaker1648 Quaker1651 friend1656 yea-and-nay1685 trembler1689 Whaker1700 broad-brim1749 plain Friend1774 shad-belly1842 drabman1860 1860 All Year Round 28 July 378 Labouring..at our target practice, long before the drowsy drabmen have moved from their pillows. ˈdrabness n. drab quality. ΘΠ the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [noun] > dullness dinginess1758 dinge1846 sombreness1847 drabbiness1872 drabness1878 1878 M. E. Braddon Open Verdict viii. 60 Though the paint was mostly gone a general drabness remained. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online June 2022). drabv. Brit. /drab/, U.S. /dræb/ Etymology: < drab n.¹ intransitive. To associate with harlots; to whore. Also to drab it. ΘΚΠ society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [verb (intransitive)] > frequent prostitutes drab1603 punk1716 1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. i. 27 Drincking, swearing, or drabbing. a1624 Bp. M. Smith Serm. (1632) 276 He is the true gentleman now adayes, that can drinke and drab it best. 1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth III. 48 I'll drink and drab. 1853 Blackwood's Mag. Dec. 110 He would have drunk and diced, drabbed and hunted. Derivatives ˈdrabbing n. ΘΚΠ society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > frequenting prostitutes drabbery1570 fleshing1598 drabbinga1611 strumpeting1656 a1611 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Triumph Death vi Drunkenness, and drabbing, thy two morals. 1820 W. Scott Monastery III. x. 254 Nothing but dicing, drinking, and drabbing. † ˈdrabber n. Obsolete a whoremonger. ΘΚΠ society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > frequenting prostitutes > one who whore hunter?1506 strumpetier1633 drabbera1640 chippy chaser1887 mush1972 a1640 P. Massinger City-Madam (1658) iv. ii. 10 A most insatiate drabber. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹?1518n.²adj.n.1541v.1603
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drabn.1

drabn.2adj.n.

Compounds

Derivatives

drabv.

Derivatives

drabn.¹

drabn.²adj.n.