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Drab vs Drat - What's the difference?

drab | drat |

As nouns the difference between drab and drat

is that drab is beadle, catchpole while drat is wire (thin thread of metal).

drab

English

Etymology 1

(etyl), meaning "color of undyed cloth", from (etyl) ).Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise : une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental , s.v. "drappo" (Paris: Errance, 2001).

Adjective

(drabber)
  • Dull, uninteresting, particularly of colour.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=November 3 , author=David Ornstein , title=Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=In a drab first half, Ryan Shotton's drive was deflected on to a post and Jon Walters twice went close.}}

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A fabric, usually of thick wool or cotton, having a drab colour.
  • The colour of this fabric; a dun, dull grey, or or dull brownish yellow.
  • A wooden box, used in saltworks for holding the salt when taken out of the boiling pans.
  • Synonyms
    * (fabric) (l)
    Derived terms
    * (l)

    Etymology 2

    Origin uncertain; probably compare Irish drabog, Gaelic .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dated) A dirty or untidy woman; a slattern.
  • *
  • Old provincial society had [...] its brilliant young professional dandies who ended by living up an entry with a drab and six children for their establishment [...].
  • * 1956 , (John Creasey), Gideon's Week :
  • The doss house emptied during the day; from ten o'clock until five or six in the evening, there was no one there except Mulliver, a drab who did some of the cleaning for him, and occasional visitors.
  • (dated) A promiscuous woman, a slut; a prostitute.
  • * 1957 , (Frank Swinnerton), The Woman from Sicily :
  • Ineffable sarcasm underlined the word 'bride', suggesting that Mrs Mudge must be a drab who had married for respectability.
    (Shakespeare)
  • A box used in a saltworks for holding the salt when taken out of the boiling pans.
  • Synonyms
    * (slut) See * (prostitute) See

    Verb

    (drabb)
  • (obsolete) To consort with prostitutes.
  • *
  • *
  • Anagrams

    *

    References

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    drat

    English

    Verb

    (dratt)
  • To damn or curse.
  • That dratted cat's been in the vegetable patch again.
  • * 1882 , The Japan Daily Mail (page 1129)
  • Whereat Mr. Fussy Fumer, gravely displeased, hastens home and writes an anonymous letter to Mrs. Gamp, who joins him in dratting the 'imperent upstart,' and denouncing the incompetence of the police.
  • * 1999 , Guy Murchie, ''The Seven Mysteries of Life: An Exploration in Science & Philosophy - Page 14
  • And should you be one of those conventional persons who thinks of parasites as abnormal or perhaps goes so far as to drat the varmints, you may be surprised to discover, as I did, that parasites live both inside and outside most organisms in all the kingdoms, which makes parasitism thoroughly normal

    Interjection

  • A cry of anger or frustration
  • Synonyms

    * crap! * damn! * goddammit!

    Anagrams

    * ----