squab
/skwɒb
/noun
1A young unfledged pigeon.Young squabs stretched their legs and body and flapped their wings vigorously....
- They taught me to raise pigeon squabs in the barns and farm and I hunted rabbit.
- When they discovered that all the local homing pigeons were booked up, they bought 80 squabs from a poultry market in Newark, N.J.
1.1 [mass noun] The flesh of young pigeon as food: roast squab
2British The padded back or side of a vehicle seat.Electric seat adjusters are usually on the side of the seat squab....
- And thanks to longer squabs the seats were more comfortable; a relief to those who may have driven the Terrano perhaps!
- That centre front seat slides all the way back until it hits the rear-seat squab, so a child can still sit ‘in the front’, but remains sufficiently rearward not to be hit by an airbag designed to restrain an adult.
2.1A thick stuffed cushion, especially one covering the seat of a chair or sofa.
adjective archaic
(Of a person) short and fat: a squab, square-featured personage...
- His eyes were large, his figure short and squab.
Origin
Mid 17th century (in the sense 'inexperienced person'): of unknown origin; compare with obsolete quab 'shapeless thing' and Swedish dialect skvabba 'fat woman'.