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PlainSpell

washboard

noun, verb

washboard is spelled W-A-S-H-B-O-A-R-D: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,913th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, washboard means “A board with a corrugated surface against which laundry may be rubbed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of washboard is washboards.

How many letters and syllables are in washboard?

Letters9: W-A-S-H-B-O-A-R-D
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 5 million words; the 65,913th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is washboard?

Washboard appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,913th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce washboard?

Washboard has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-washboard.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of washboard

  • washboards plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • washboarding participle, present
  • washboarded participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does washboard mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A board with a corrugated surface against which laundry may be rubbed.

  2. 2

    Such a board used as a simple percussion instrument.

  3. 3

    A board fastened along a ship's gunwale to prevent splashing; a splashboard.

  4. 4

    A stretch of ripples or bumps on a dirt or gravel road caused by interaction between traffic and road surface.

    washboard road

  5. 5

    colloquialA flat-chested woman.

  6. 6

    colloquialEllipsis of washboard abs.

  7. 7

    datedBaseboard; skirting board.

verb

  1. 1

    To produce a rippled texture on a surface.

  2. 2

    To play a washboard.

  3. 3

    To move up and down or back and forth across the surface of a hive, possibly to lay down a layer of propolis and wax.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Washboard in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchplanche à laver (board to do laundry)
GermanWaschbrett (board to do laundry), Wellblech (stretch of ripples)
Portuguesetanquinho (board to do laundry), costeleta (stretch of ripples)
Spanishlavadero (board to do laundry), serrucho (stretch of ripples)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does washboard come from?

From wash + board.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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