What does washboard mean?
A washboard is a flat board covered with ridges, grooves, or corrugations that provide friction for hand-washing clothes. Before modern washing machines, people dampened fabric and rubbed it repeatedly across the board, using the textured surface to loosen dirt. The word also describes a road with many regular ridges, especially one damaged by heavy traffic, and a percussion instrument made from a ridged metal plate that is rubbed or struck to produce a rasping rhythm. In the laundry sense, “washboard” often carries nostalgic associations of household work and an earlier age. As a description of roads, it is straightforward and often mildly humorous, suggesting a surface so uneven that vehicles bounce or rattle over it. In music, the washboard supplies a lively percussive texture and has been prominent in skiffle and various traditional and roots genres.
A board with a ridged surface used to scrub clothes; by extension, a similarly ridged road surface or a ridged metal percussion instrument.
"The linen was still damp when she lifted it from the washboard."
The hand-washing sense is often historical or nostalgic; the road and musical senses are contemporary.
To wash clothes by rubbing them against the ridged surface of a washboard.
"He washboarded his shirts by the river after work."
This verb is relatively uncommon and often describes traditional or historical laundry methods.
The plural is used for multiple washing boards, ridged road surfaces, or washboard instruments.
"Heavy rain turned the dirt road into a series of washboards."
Long before washing machines, people scrubbed clothes on a ridged washboard—an ancestor of the corrugated roads that make drivers grip the steering wheel.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does washboard come from?
Washboard is an English compound formed from “wash” and “board,” referring to the board on which clothes were washed. The compound was in use by the 18th century, with the word “board” referring to a flat wooden surface rather than its later sense of a committee or meals. The road and musical senses developed later by extension: the first from the ridged appearance or texture of a corrugated road, and the second from the sound and construction of the percussion instrument.
Related word forms
How washboard is actually used
The laundry sense is now largely historical or nostalgic, although the word remains common for the ridged surface of a poor road. The musical sense is established in folk, skiffle, country, and other traditional or roots contexts.