drab
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɹæb/
rhymes: -æb
Forms: form: drabs
Etymology: Unknown.
Senses: examples: text: Thoſe therefore, who are moſt exact in pickling beef for exportation, [...] take their carcaſſes as ſoon as cold, and cut them into proper pieces; and after rubbing each piece carefully with good white ſalt, lay them on heaps in a cool cellar, in a drab with a ſhelving bottom, where they remain for four or five days, 'till the blood hath drained out of the larger veſſels.
ref: 1748, William Brownrigg, “Of the Use of Salt as a Condiment or Pickle”, in The Art of Making Common Salt, as Now Practised in Most Parts of the World; with Several Improvements Proposed in that Art, for the Use of the British Dominions, London: Printed, and sold by C. Davis, […]; A[ndrew] Millar, […]; and R[obert] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, part II (The Art of Preparing White Salt: Appendix), pages 166–168:
text: When the ſalt is carried into the ſtore-houſe, it is put into drabs, which are partitions, like ſtalls for horſes, lined at three ſides, and the bottom with boards, and having a ſliding-board on the foreſide to draw up on occaſion. The bottoms are made ſhelving, being higheſt at the back, and gradually inclining forwards; by this means the brine, remaining among the ſalt, eaſily ſeparates and runs from it, and the ſalt in three or four days becomes ſufficiently dry; [...]
ref: 1765, Temple Henry Croker, Thomas Williams, Samuel Clark, “SALT”, in The Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. In which the Whole Circle of Human Learning is Explained. […], volume II, London: Printed for the authors, and sold by J. Wilson & J. Fell, […], →OCLC:
text: In both caſes they let the ſalt remain in the pan till the whole is finiſhed; then they rake it out with wooden rakes, and after it has drained a-while in wooden drabs, it is fit for uſe. The mother-brine, of which there always remains a large quantity in the pan after the ſtrong ſalt is made, as alſo the drainings of the drabs where the ſalt is put, is reſerved to be boiled up into table-ſalt; [...]
ref: 1819, Abraham Rees, “SALT”, in The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature. [...] In Thirty-nine Volumes, volume XXXI, London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown [et al.], →OCLC:
text: The Liverpool salt is made from the impure article that is found in the mines of Cheshire, which is transported in vast quantities down the River Mersey, and is dissolved in seawater on the left bank at extensive manufactories opposite to Liverpool. This impure pickle is drawn from the tanks, in which it is dissolved, into large shallow pans, and by a rapid process of boiling it is crystalized—drawn from the pans—the salt placed in drabs or baskets to drain, ready for another charge within 24 hours, except on Sundays; the charge in the pans is allowed 48 hours to crystalize and be drawn.
ref: 1857 August, W[illia]m C. Dennis, “Salt—Its Uses and Manufacture—Salt Meats. An Inquiry into the Defects of Common Salt in General Use in the United States for Curing Provisions, and on the Subject of Careless Packing and Management of Meats, etc, with Some Hints as to a Remedy”, in J[ames] D[unwoody] B[rownson] De Bow, editor, De Bow’s Review and Industrial Resources, Statistics, etc.: […], volume III (New Series; volume XXIII overall), New Orleans, La.; Washington, D.C.: [J. D. B. De Bow], →OCLC, page 135:
glosses: A box used in a saltworks for holding the salt when taken out of the boiling pans.