Crossword clues for washboard
washboard
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Washboard \Wash"board`\, n.
A fluted, or ribbed, board on which clothes are rubbed in washing them.
A board running round, and serving as a facing for, the walls of a room, next to the floor; a mopboard.
(Naut.) A broad, thin plank, fixed along the gunwale of boat to keep the sea from breaking inboard; also, a plank on the sill of a lower deck port, for the same purpose; -- called also wasteboard.
--Mar. Dict.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. 1 a board with a corrugated surface against which laundry may be rubbed 2 (context musici English) such a board used as a simple percussion instrument 3 (context nautical English) a board fastened along a ship's gunwale to prevent splashing; a splashboard 4 A stretch of ripples or bumps on a dirt or gravel road, mostly occurring at corners; which is caused by wear from traffic, erosion from wet weather, or poor grade.
WordNet
n. device consisting of a corrugated surface to scrub clothes on
protective covering consisting of a broad plank along a gunwale to keep water from splashing over the side [syn: splashboard]
Wikipedia
The washboard and frottoir (from Cajun French "frotter", to rub) are used as a percussion instrument, employing the ribbed metal surface of the cleaning device as a rhythm instrument. As traditionally used in jazz, zydeco, skiffle, jug band, and old-time music, the washboard remained in its wooden frame and is played primarily by tapping, but also scraping the washboard with thimbles. Often the washboard has additional traps, such as a wood block, a cowbell, and even small cymbals. Conversely, the frottoir (zydeco rubboard) dispenses with the frame and consists simply of the metal ribbing hung around the neck. It is played primarily with spoon handles or bottle openers in a combination of strumming, scratching, tapping and rolling. The frottoir or vest frottoir is played as a stroked percussion instrument, often in a band with a drummer, while the washboard generally is a replacement for drums. In Zydeco bands, the frottoir is usually played with bottle openers, to make a louder sound. It tends to play counter-rhythms to the drummer. In a jug band, the washboard can also be stroked with a single whisk broom and functions as the drums for the band, playing only on the back-beat for most songs, a substitute for a snare drum. In a four-beat measure, the washboard will stroke on the 2-beat and the 4-beat. Its best sound is achieved using a single steel-wire snare-brush or whisk broom. However, in a jazz setting, the washboard can also be played with thimbles on all fingers, tapping out much more complex rhythms, as in The Washboard Rhythm Kings, a full-sized band, and Newman Taylor Baker.
There are three general ways of deploying the washboard for use as an instrument. The first, mainly used by American players like Washboard Chaz of the Washboard Chaz Blues Trio and Ralf Reynolds of the Reynolds Brothers Rhythm Rascals, is to drape it vertically down the chest. The second, used by European players like David Langlois of the Blue Vipers of Brooklyn and Stephane Seva of Paris Washboard, is to hold it horizontally across the lap, or, for more complex setups, to mount it horizontally on a purpose-built stand. The third (and least common) method, used by Washboard Sam and Deryck Guyler, is to hold it in a perpendicular orientation between the legs while seated, so that both sides of the board might be played at the same time.
There is a Polish traditional jazz festival and music award named " Złota Tarka" (Golden Washboard). Washboards, called " zatulas", are also occasionally used in Ukrainian folk music.
Washboard may refer to:
- Washboard (musical instrument), a percussion instrument
- Washboard (laundry), a tool for washing clothes
A washboard is a tool designed for hand washing clothing. With mechanized cleaning of clothing becoming more common by the end of the 20th century, the washboard has become better known for its secondary use as a musical instrument.
The traditional washboard is usually constructed with a rectangular wooden frame in which are mounted a series of ridges or corrugations for the clothing to be rubbed upon. For 19th-century washboards, the ridges were often of wood; by the 20th century, ridges of metal were more common. A "fluted" metal washboard was patented in the United States by Stephen Rust in 1833. Zinc washboards were manufactured in the United States from the middle of the 19th century. In the late 20th century and early 21st century, ridges of galvanized steel are most common, but some modern boards are made of glass. Washboards with brass ridges are still made.
Many parts of the world still use washboards for washing clothes. Clothes are soaked in hot soapy water in a washtub or sink, then squeezed and rubbed against the ridged surface of the washboard to force the cleansing fluid through the cloth to carry away dirt. Washboards may also be used for washing in a river, with or without soap. Then the clothes are rinsed. The rubbing has a similar effect to beating the clothes and household linen on rocks, an ancient method, but is less abrasive. Military personnel often use washboards to do their laundry when no local laundry facilities exist.
Some experts emphasize that using a washboard is superior to using modern laundry machines because it saves water and electricity and is not so hard on the clothing.
Usage examples of "washboard".
There was a washboard at the end of the porch, and on the post above the board hung a little round mirror of polished metal going to rust.
She lit a candle in a tin holder, and Inman carried all of it out and spread it on the washboard at the end of the porch.
Only a weather-beaten washboard along with an exposed edge from its rusted tub was visible in the untamed field.
But, it was the train whistle noise and the rusted pail and washboard impaled through the porch railings that commanded his attention, along with the sudden explosion of the security light on the other side of the oak tree.
She licked her lips and dropped her gaze, only to be seduced by his washboard abs.
She went back down the hall to a janitorial room and found a bucket, washboard, and some soap, then went into the now-deserted shower room.
He sported a black spit curl over a beaten-down nose and showed a stomach still hard as a washboard, but he must have had ten years on the kid he was boxing.
Hicks man said something to Hal Goode about the stretch of road between Union and Drake Eye Springs being narrow and rough as a washboard, I thought Old Man Hawk would explode!
Sometimes Sarah rubbed fabric against the washboard so hard that it felt like it was grating her hand, and she especially hated the hot job of tending the clothes in the tub of boiling water they used to clean the huge bedsheets and tablecloths.
Polly, industriously rubbing a shirt on a washboard, thought about this.
Then they met again at the corner of Main and Railroad and rode home, pedaling over the washboards in the gravel.
The car was still idling and the headlights were pointed forward along the dirt road, showing the washboards and the uneven grading.
She went back down the hall to a janitorial room and found a bucket, washboard, and some soap, then went into the now-deserted shower room.
Each of its lodgepole-pine timbers had been well picked and creosoted, adzed only slightly on top to form a washboard passage between the dark steep-roofed tunnel.
When Washboard played, the black women would dance around him as if their bodies had no bones and the white girls, fueled on sweet things with silly names-Black Russians were particularly popular-would try to imitate them.