n 1: device consisting of a corrugated surface to scrub clothes on 2: protective covering consisting of a broad plank along a gunwale to keep water from splashing over the side [syn: washboard, splashboard]
nounDate: 1742 1. a broad thin plank along a gunwale or on the sill of a lower deck port to keep out the sea 2.baseboard3.a. a corrugated rectangular surface that is used for scrubbing clothes or as a percussion instrument b. a road or pavement so worn by traffic as to be corrugated transversely c. an abdominal area characterized by prominent and well-defined musculature — usually used attributively <a bodybuilder with washboard abs> <a washboard stomach>
Washboard Wash"board`, n. 1. A fluted, or ribbed, board on which clothes are rubbed in washing them. 2. A board running round, and serving as a facing for, the walls of a room, next to the floor; a mopboard. 3. (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.