squabn.
/skwɒb/, U.S. /skwɑb/ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > [noun] > simpleton
innocentc1386
greenhead1576
gonyc1580
ninnyhammer1592
chicken1600
loach1605
simplician1605
hichcock1607
smelt1607
foppasty1611
dovea1616
goslinga1616
funge1621
simplicity1633
gewgaw1634
squab1640
simpletonian1652
ninny-whoop1653
softhead1654
foppotee1663
greenhorn1672
sumph1682
sawney1699
sillyton1708
gaby?1746
gobbin?1746
green goose1768
nin-a-kin1787
Jacob1811
green1824
sillikin1832
greeny1834
softhorn1836
sucker1838
softie1850
dope1851
soft1854
verigreen1854
peanut1864
daftie1872
josser1886
naïf1891
yapc1894
barm-stick1924
knobhead1931
sook1933
nig-nog1953
sawn1953
pronk1959
stiffy1965
1640 R. Brome Sparagus Garden ii. ii I warrant you, is he a trim youth? We must make him one Iacke, 'tis such a squab as thou never sawest; such a lumpe, we may make what we will of him.
2.
a. A newly-hatched, unfledged, or very young bird. Also figurative of a person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > young bird > [noun] > unfledged
gull1382
quiller1591
squab1682
gor1683
1682 T. Shadwell Medal of John Bayes 69 Should all thy borrow'd plumes we from thee tear, How truly Poet Squab would'st thou appear!
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Squab,..a new Hatcht Chick.
1736 W. Ellis New Exper. Husbandry 95 The earliest young ones [i.e. goslings] are commonly sent to London in March, called Squabs.
1838 W. Holloway Gen. Dict. Provincialisms Squab, an unfledged bird.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xix. 146 Some of the men succeeded in reaching their squabs_ by introducing their arms.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. v. 151 At the bottom of each [pie] a squab, or young cormorant.
b. spec. A young pigeon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [noun] > family Columbidae > pigeon > young
dove-birdc1200
culver-bird1382
peepera1586
squab1694
dovelet1825
pigeon-poult1885
piper1885
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais Pantagruel's Voy.: 4th Bk. Wks. iv. lix. 234 Pigeons, Squobbs, and Squeakers.
1765 Treat. Domest. Pigeons 50 This article, and the young squabs, will nearly, if not quite, maintain your Pigeons in food.
1854 Poultry Chron. 1 573/2 It is generally considered that a cock [pigeon] homes quickest when driving to nest, and a hen when she is feeding squabs.
1869 A. J. Evans Vashti xxvi. 346 The gale blew down my pigeon-house and mashed all my squabs.
1902 R. W. Chambers Maids of Paradise i. 25 Among which generations of pigeons had built nests and raised countless broods of squealing squabs.
c. A young rabbit. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Oryctolagus (rabbit) > young
rabbita1398
rabbit-suckera1475
rabbit-starter1651
squab1838
coney1876
1838 W. Holloway Gen. Dict. Provincialisms Squab,..a young rabbit, before it is covered with hair.
3. A short fat person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily height > shortness > [noun] > and broadness > person
knarc1405
hoddy-doddya1556
trunk1586
truncheon1601
stump1602
fubs1614
dumpling1617
punch1669
Punchinello1669
spud1688
knur1691
knurl1691
runt1699
squab1699
swad1706
humpty-dumpty1785
junt1787
knurlinga1796
pudge1808
stumpie1820
nugget1825
podge1834
dump1840
dumpy1868
pyknic1925
mesomorph1940
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Squab, a very fat, truss Person.
1716 A. Pope Corr. 18 Aug. (1956) I. 353 We shall then see how the Prudes of this world..were naturally as arrant Squabs as those that went more loose.
1794 J. O'Keeffe Wild Oats (new ed.) iv. i. 60 Your figure is the most happy comedy squab I ever saw.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. v. i. 286 A fat laughing squab of a woman.
1823 Countess Granville Lett. (1894) I. 240 He is a fat, sallow squab of a man.
1897 G. Bartram People of Clopton vii. 201 A great fat squab loike Lucy.
4. A sofa, ottoman, or couch.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > sofa or couch > [noun]
reclinatoryc1425
crabat1483
coucha1500
daybed1597
squab1664
repose1685
settee1716
sofa1717
long chair1750
duchesse1794
canapé1795
chaise-longue1800
sultane1803
chaise lounge1807
lounge1830
dormeuse1865
takht1884
méridienne1925
Berbice1951
lounger1964
1664 F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) II. 211 For a drawing-rome i should have 2 squobs, & 6 turned woden chars of the haith of the longe seates.
1689 London Gaz. No. 2495/4 The Covering of a large Squab, the upper side of Cloth of silver, the Ground white and toward a Filamot.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 180 Under this I had made me a Squab or Couch, with the Skins of the Creatures I had kill'd, and with other soft Things.
1727 A. Pope Artimesia 138 in J. Swift et al. Misc.: Last Vol. On her large Squab you find her spread, Like a fat corpse upon a bed.
1788 W. Marshall Provincialisms E. Yorks. in Rural Econ. Yorks. II. 355 Squab, a couch, common in most farm ‘houses’.
1867 Morning Star 1 Jan. 2 In consequence of the fullness of the house the deceased was compelled to sleep on a sofa or squab in the bar.
1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorks. Folk-talk 377 The squab is a roughly-made couch or long-settle with cushions, differing from the ordinary long-settle in that it has one arm instead of two.
5. in extended use.1860 H. Mayhew Upper Rhine v. 272 The apparatus appears to be more like a large squab of a watch-pocket.
a. A thick or soft cushion, esp. one serving to cover the seat of a chair or sofa.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > support or rest > [noun] > cushion
pillowOE
bolsterc1275
cushionc1374
squab1688
1688 G. Miege Great French Dict. ii. sig. Sssv/2 A Squab, or very soft Cushion, Coussin fort moû.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) A Squab, a soft stuffed Cushion or Stool.
1730 Inv. R. Woolley's Goods (1732) 8 3 Pair of Window Curtains and 3 Squabs of the same.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VI. xli. 158 An old, broken-bottomed cane couch, without a squab, or coverlid, sunk at one corner.
1819 H. Busk Vestriad iv. 1051 Bolstering his head with squabs, his mind with hope.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby x. 91 Chairs with turned legs and green chintz squabs to match the curtains.
1881 G. MacDonald Mary Marston xxxvii She was poking the little fists into the squab of the sofa.
b. A cushion forming part of the inside fittings of a carriage. Hence, in modern use, the padded back or side of a car-seat.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > carriage for conveying persons > [noun] > parts of > cushion(s)
squab1794
squabbing1888
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > lining or upholstery > padded part of seat
squab1904
1794 W. Felton Treat. Carriages I. 159 A squab, or sleeping cushion;..occasionally added to the insides of close carriages, for the..head or shoulders to incline against.
1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & Widows I. vii. 168 He looked into the carriage, turned up the squabs.
1888 Farr & Thrupp Coach Trimming vi. 75 Back Squabs are not usually fastened at the sides, and it is the custom to make the sides curving out from the straight line, that the squab may not when fixed appear narrower across the middle.
1904 Car 15 June 114/2 Two extra seats..fold up underneath the back squab.
1924 Motor 28 Oct. 700/1 Several different methods have been invented to enable the angle of the squab to be varied.
1966 ‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive vii. 62 I slid back and rested my head on the rear squab... It was a big car, comfortable.
1972 Drive Spring 147/3 The height, legroom and squab level of the driver's seat can be adjusted.
6. attributive.
a. In sense 2, as squab-condition, squab-gull, squab-pigeon, squab-virtuoso.
ΚΠ
1686 F. Spence tr. A. Varillas Ἀνεκδοτα Ἑτερουιακα 227 He nurs'd up these Squab-virtuoso's in Literature almost from the very Cradle.
1737 Compl. Family-piece (ed. 2) i. iii. 219 To pickle Sparrows or Squab-Pigeons.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxiv. 320 The squab-gull of Hans Island has a well-earned reputation..for its delicious juices.
1877 Newton in Encycl. Brit. VI. 407 The young [of the cormorant]..remain for some time in the squab-condition.
b. In senses 4, 5, as squab chair, squab cushion, squab-seat, squab sofa.
ΚΠ
1836 F. Marryat Snarleyyow xxiv, in Metropolitan Nov. 226 Seated on the squab sofa.
1849 A. R. Smith Pottleton Legacy xxv. 263 There were squab seats all round the room.
1860 All Year Round 7 July 306 An old mahogany Empire arm-chair, with squab cushion.
1864 Notes & Queries 3rd Ser. 6 136/2 Upholsterers make sofa and couch seats of three kinds, called respectively squab-seats, spring seats, and stuffed tight seats.
1867 O. W. Holmes Guardian Angel ii Nurse Byloe let herself drop into a flaccid squab chair.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
squabadj.
/skwɒb/, U.S. /skwɑb/ 1.
a. Of persons: Short and stout; squat and plump.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily height > shortness > [adjective] > and broad
short shoulderedc1405
bunting1584
squaddy1593
chubby1611
truncheon1611
squat1630
squabbish1666
truss1674
squab1675
squad1675
stocky1676
punch1679
trunch1683
squat1688
stub1711
fodgel1724
thick-set1724
puddy1747
chunky1749
dumpy1750
squabby1754
knurly1758
clunch1776
trunchy1778
fubsy1780
punchy1780
humpty-dumpty1785
trunched1787
pudgy1788
fubby1790
runty1807
squattish1809
roly-poly1818
stumpy1822
hoddy-doddy1824
spuddya1825
hodmandod1825
stubby1831
podgy1832
fubsical1834
dumpty1847
fatling1847
stuggy1847
nuggety1856
cloddy1876
blocky1879
chumpy188.
cobby1883
squidgy1891
stockish1913
pyknic1925
humpisha1935
1675 W. Wycherley Country-wife iv. 65 I am now no more interruption to 'em..than a little squab French Page, who speaks no English.
1682 Heraclitus Ridens 11 Aug. 1/2 Do you know that same Squab Blade with the light Peruke..?
1702 G. Farquhar Inconstant i. ii. 8 A Dutch Woman is squab.
1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World II. 13 As Rock is remarkably squab, his great rival Franks is as remarkably tall.
1827 T. Hamilton Youth & Manhood Cyril Thornton I. viii. 108 His lordship was a little squab man.
1865 Reader No. 122. 489/2 The squab yellow Hottentots.
1884 W. Besant Dorothy Forster i His eyes were large, his figure short and squab.
b. Having a thick clumsy form.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being short and thick or broad > [adjective]
stoba1500
stubbeda1529
stubbleda1529
strunt1577
stumpy1600
chubby1611
stumpish1618
chubbed1674
squat1684
chubbish1685
chub1688
squabbed1694
cloddy1712
clavellated1713
pluggy1720
squab1723
puddy1747
tubbish1786
stunt1788
bunting1808–25
dumpy1808
clumpy1820
dubby1825
stubby1831
chunky1833
snubbed1835
tubby1835
pudgy1862
squatty1881
squidgy1891
1723 E. Chambers tr. S. Le Clerc Treat. Archit. I. 46 The Capital..wou'd be too flat and squab.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian vii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. IV. 156 Turning his squab nose up in the air.
1885 W. C. Russell Strange Voy. v A large three-masted ironclad, with low squab funnel.
1894 W. C. Russell in Idler Sept. 134 That ancient ship..with her..artillery running the fat squab length of her.
2. Young and undeveloped; esp. of young birds, unfledged or not fully fledged, newly or lately hatched.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > family unit > [adjective] > young
new-fallena1618
yeanling1658
squab1706
subadult1844
weaner1865
the world > animals > birds > young bird > [adjective] > unfledged or not fully fledged
featherlessc1460
implumec1540
callow1567
unfledge1581
unplumed1598
implumed1604
unfledgeda1616
pin-feathered1641
squab1706
implumous1755
fledgeless1769
callowy1823
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) A Squab Rabbet or Chick, one so young that 'tis scarce fit to be eaten.
1709 Brit. Apollo 31 Aug.–2 Sept. A Glazier..Came like a Squab-Rook flutt'ring down.
1774 G. White Let. 28 Sept. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 183 I..found in each nest only two squab, naked pulli.
1774 G. White Let. 28 Sept. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 186 The squab young we brought down and placed on the grass-plot.
1807 Salmagundi 19 Sept. 305 A nest full of little squab Cupids.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > [adjective] > retiring or withdrawn
soleinc1450
retiring1566
retireda1616
oyster-like1665
squab1689
shy of oneself1722
indrawn1751
introverted1850
background1896
retreative1898
introvert1916
introversive1923
withdrawn1932
1689 N. Lee Princess of Cleve iii. i Your demure Ladies that are so Squob in company, are Divels in a corner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > discourtesy > [adjective] > curt or brusque
short1390
cutted1530
snappish1542
abrupt1578
stunt1581
blunt1590
brusquea1639
snapping1642
blatec1650
brisk1665
bluff1705
offhand1708
prerupt1727
squab1737
prompt1768
crisp1814
brief1818
stuntya1825
curt1831
snappy1834
bluffy1844
nebby1873
offhandish1886
nebsy1894
1737 Ld. Hervey Mem. II. 340 Most people blamed the Duke of Argyll for so squab an attack.
a1743 R. Savage Author to be Let ⁋8 Thus have I caused his Enemies..to libel him for my squab compliment.
1756 H. Walpole Let. 25 Jan. in Lett. to H. Mann (1833) III. 125 We have returned a squab answer, retorting the infraction of treaties.
1759 H. Walpole Let. 13 Sept. in Lett. to H. Mann (1833) III. 338 Lord Ligonier in words was more squab. ‘If he wanted a court-martial, he might go seek it in Germany.’
Compounds
squab-faced, squab-looking, squab-shaped adjs.
ΚΠ
1781 F. Burney Let. May in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (2003) IV. 340 The attorney General,—a most squat & squab looking man.
1797 R. Southey Lett. from Spain i. 9 Its fountain ornamented with a fine squab-faced figure of Fame.
1865 A. Smith Summer in Skye ii Comical squab-faced deities in silver and bronze.
1889 C. Edwardes Sardinia 103 Mostly its buildings are low, squab-shaped, and of sun-dried brick.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
squabv.
/skwɒb/, U.S. /skwɑb/ 1. transitive. To knock or beat severely; to squash, squeeze flat. Now dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person
to-beatc893
threshOE
bustc1225
to lay on or upon?c1225
berrya1250
to-bunea1250
touchc1330
arrayc1380
byfrapc1380
boxc1390
swinga1400
forbeatc1420
peal?a1425
routa1425
noddlea1450
forslinger1481
wipe1523
trima1529
baste1533
waulk1533
slip1535
peppera1550
bethwack1555
kembc1566
to beat (a person) black and blue1568
beswinge1568
paik1568
trounce1568
canvass1573
swaddle?1577
bebaste1582
besoop1589
bumfeage1589
dry-beat1589
feague1589
lamback1589
clapperclaw1590
thrash1593
belam1595
lam1595
beswaddle1598
bumfeagle1598
belabour1600
tew1600
flesh-baste1611
dust1612
feeze1612
mill1612
verberate1614
bethumpa1616
rebuke1619
bemaul1620
tabor1624
maula1627
batterfang1630
dry-baste1630
lambaste1637
thunder-thump1637
cullis1639
dry-banga1640
nuddle1640
sauce1651
feak1652
cotton1654
fustigate1656
brush1665
squab1668
raddle1677
to tan (a person's) hide1679
slam1691
bebump1694
to give (a person) his load1694
fag1699
towel1705
to kick a person's butt1741
fum1790
devel1807
bray1808
to beat (also scare, etc.) someone's daylights out1813
mug1818
to knock (a person) into the middle of next week1821
welt1823
hidea1825
slate1825
targe1825
wallop1825
pounce1827
to lay into1838
flake1841
muzzle1843
paste1846
looder1850
frail1851
snake1859
fettle1863
to do over1866
jacket1875
to knock seven kinds of —— out of (a person)1877
to take apart1880
splatter1881
to beat (knock, etc.) the tar out of1884
to —— the shit out of (a person or thing)1886
to do up1887
to —— (the) hell out of1887
to beat — bells out of a person1890
soak1892
to punch out1893
stoush1893
to work over1903
to beat up1907
to punch up1907
cream1929
shellac1930
to —— the bejesus out of (a person or thing)1931
duff1943
clobber1944
to fill in1948
to bash up1954
to —— seven shades of —— out of (a person or thing)1976
to —— seven shades out of (a person or thing)1983
beast1990
becurry-
fan-
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. Dict. To Squab, break, sp. by down casting.
1688 G. Miege Great French Dict. ii. sig. Sssv/2 To Squab, or squelch one, to beat him to mash, applatir quêcun de coups.
1847– in midl. and southern dial. use.
2. reflexive. To squat (oneself).In modern Leicestershire and Warwickshire dialect, ‘to squeeze (oneself) into a small space’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action of crouching or squatting > crouch or squat [verb (reflexive)]
squata1425
squata1535
ruck1595
squab1680
1680 R. L'Estrange tr. Erasmus 20 Select Colloquies i. 8 The Sea-Priest..squabs himself down directly upon our Shoulders.
3. transitive. With off: To reject bluntly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [verb (transitive)] > rebuff
rebut1488
reject1529
counterbuff1579
rebuffa1586
repel1593
slighta1616
to blow off1631
squab1812
respue1818
snout1916
stiff-arm1927
to knock back1930
to brush off1941
1812 Sporting Mag. 40 41 Maslen..having most friends on the hill, he squabbed off these evasions.
4. To stuff or stuff up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > stuff or cram
cramc1000
pitchc1300
thrustc1380
purra1398
stopc1400
farcec1405
stuffc1440
line?1521
enfarce1531
threstc1540
pack1567
prag1567
prop1568
referse1580
thwack1582
ram1590
pang1637
farcinate1638
stivea1639
thrack1655
to craw outa1658
trig1660
steeve1669
stow1710
jam1719
squab1819
farcy1830
cram-jam1880
jam-pack1936
1819 H. Busk Dessert 37 Ye whose divans, recesses, and whose piers, Are squabb'd with ottomans and chiffoniers.
1891 Cent. Dict. Squab, v.t., to stuff thickly and catch through with thread at regular intervals, as a cushion.
5. intransitive. To fall or hang in a full or heavy manner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > fall [verb (intransitive)] > heavily
waddlec1400
souse1596
squab1755
soss1789
slump1844
the world > space > relative position > support > hanging or suspension > hang or be suspended [verb (intransitive)] > hang down > heavily
squab1845
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. To Squab, v.n., to fall down plump or flat.
1845 S. Judd Margaret ii. xi. 363 Ladies in..short cloaks..with hoods squabbing behind, known as cardinals.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
squabint.adv.
A. int.
See quot. a1625.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > family Corvidae (crow) > [interjection] > sound made by
caw1595
squaba1625
a1625 J. Fletcher Women Pleas'd i. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Dddddd/2 I should be loath to see ye Come fluttering down like a yong Rooke, cry squab, And take ye up with your brains beaten into your buttocks.
B. adv.
With a heavy fall or squash.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > [adverb] > with a heavy fall
squab1692
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables 192 The Eagle took him up a matter of Steeple-high into the Air, and..dropt him down, Squab upon a Rock.
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II. at Squob He throwed him down squob. Sussex.
1890 J. D. Robertson Gloss. Words County of Gloucester 149 Er came down squob.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
<
n.1640
adj.1675v.1668int.adv.a1625