Literary notes about squab (AI summary)
The term "squab" appears with a surprising variety of meanings in literary works. In some contexts it denotes the young pigeon prized for its tender meat, featured in recipes that describe how to season, broil, and serve it ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5]). In other usages it extends beyond the culinary sphere to describe physical attributes—referring either to a diminutive, squat person or even to a cushioned part of a piece of furniture, as when a sofa is called a “squab” ([6], [7], [8]). The word also functions metaphorically as an epithet or nickname, conveying characteristics of shortness or unimpressiveness ([9], [10], [11]). Thus, “squab” illustrates how a single term can traverse distinct domains of meaning, from gastronomy to characterization and design.
- Season the breast of a raw squab with salt and pepper, and roll in flour.
— from The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book by Victor Hirtzler - 58 COLUMBA, female pigeon; COLUMBUS, the male; COLUMBULUS, —A, squab, ℞ 220 .
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - Split the squab, season well, roll in oil and broil.
— from The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book by Victor Hirtzler - There was real coffee, strong and black, fruit, fish, fresh vegetables and a roast squab for each diner.
— from A Yankee Flier Over Berlin by Rutherford G. (Rutherford George) Montgomery - Broiled squab chicken. Split a squab from the back, salt, pepper, moisten with a little olive oil and broil.
— from The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book by Victor Hirtzler - Bessy herself lay on a squab, or short sofa, placed under the window.
— from North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell - But I had forgotten—there was also a chair with a "squab" that apologized inadequately for the defects of its cane seat.
— from In the Days of the Comet by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells - Her hands were now clinched, one on each side of her; she was poking the little fists into the squab of the sofa.
— from Mary Marston by George MacDonald - The nickname given him by his enemies was Poet Squab .
— from Word Portraits of Famous Writers - “It will take more nerve than I've got, and I'm no squab at that.”
— from The Hand-Made Gentleman: A Tale of the Battles of Peace by Irving Bacheller - The hawk-like profile of the one bespoke his nationality if not his tribe, even as the pug-nosed, squab-faced figure-head of the other spoke to his.
— from The Sign of the Spider by Bertram Mitford
