Etymology Unknown. Possibly related to dialectal Swedish skvabb (“fatty, flabby”). First attested in the 17th century.
› A fledgling (young) bird.
1
Sometimes A young dove or pigeon.
2
Sometimes A young chicken.
3
Sometimes A young rook.
4
The meat of young dove or pigeon, typically under four weeks old, used as food.
Squab may be consumed by ripping the bird apart with your hands and sucking the meat from the bones.2022, Jennifer Egan, The Candy House, Corsair, page 207:
5
A thick cushion, especially a flat one covering the seat of a chair or sofa.
a. 1744, Alexander Pope (imitating Earl of Dorset), Artemisia, 1795, Robert Anderson (editor), A Complete Edition of the Poets of Great Britain, page 86, On her large ſquab you find her ſpread, / Like a fat corpſe upon a bed, / That lies and ſtinks in ſtate.
[H]erds of shabby vampires, Jew and Christian, over-run the house, [...] punching the squabs of chairs and sofas with their dirty fists, touzling the feather-beds, opening and shutting all the drawers, balancing the silver spoons and forks, looking into the very threads of the drapery and linen, and disparaging everything.1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Retribution”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 591:
1 more example
Another feature new to British Railways is the provision of two-position adjustable seats in the first class compartments. In this design, the seat squab can be pulled out some six inches, the seat back being attached to the seat to give a less upright sitting position.1957 August 23, “New Multiple-Unit Stock for Hastings and Watford Services”, in Railway Magazine, page 532:
6
A person of a short, fat figure.
Gorgonius sits abdominous and wan, / Like a fat squab upon a Chinese fan:a. 1800, William Cowper, “The Progress of Error”, in Poems of William Cowper, Esq, published 1824, page 28:
Etymology Unknown. Possibly related to dialectal Swedish skvabb (“fatty, flabby”). First attested in the 17th century.
1
Obsolete To fall plump; to strike at one dash, or with a heavy stroke.
2
To furnish with squabs, or cushions.
3
To stuff thickly and sew through, the stitches being concealed by buttons, etc.
squab
adj
Etymology Unknown. Possibly related to dialectal Swedish skvabb (“fatty, flabby”). First attested in the 17th century.
1
Fat; thick; plump; bulky.
Nor the squab daughter nor the wife were nice.1712, Thomas Betterton, The Miller of Trompington:
So on his Nightmare through the evening fog / Flits the squab fiend o'er fen, and lake, and bog […].1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants, J. Johnson, page 93:
2
Unfledged; unfeathered.
broken limbs of trees, eggs, and young squab pigeons precipitated from above1836, Richard King, Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Arctic Ocean:
3
Clumsy.
4
Curt; abrupt.
5
Shy; coy.
squab
adv
Etymology Unknown. Possibly related to dialectal Swedish skvabb (“fatty, flabby”). First attested in the 17th century.
The eagle took the tortoise up into the air, and dropped him down, squab, upon a rock.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC: