A squeegee or squilgee is a tool with a flat, smooth rubber blade, used to remove or control the flow of liquid on a flat surface. It is used for cleaning and in printing.
The earliest written references to squeegees date from the mid-18th century and concern deck-cleaning tools, some with leather rather than rubber blades. The name "squeegee" may come from the word "squeege", meaning press or squeeze, which was first recorded in 1783.[1] The closely related "squeedging" was reportedly first used in 1782, in the Covent Garden Theatre,[2] during the performing of the comedy Which is the Man? by Hannah Cowley.[3][4]
- ^ "squeege". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ Cowley, Hannah (1813). "The Works of Mrs. Cowley: Dramas and Poems (In three volumes)". London. p. 318. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
This Comedy was brought out at Covent Garden Theatre in the year 1782.
- ^ Greenwald, Ken (December 13, 2014). "Squeegee". Wordwizard. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
[...] the OED [Oxford English Dictionary], which defines 'squeege' as a strengthened form of 'squeeze,' tells us that 'squeege' had been used as a verb some half century earlier than 'squilgee' came on the scene and gives the following 1782 nautical example. Also, to go from 'squeege' to 'squeegee' seems to me like a pretty logical progression: <1782 "Such clattering, and SQUEEDGING ['squeeging'] down the gangway staircase."—'Which is the Man?' by H. Cowley>
- ^ Cowley, Hannah (1813). "The Works of Mrs. Cowley: Dramas and Poems (In three volumes)". London. p. 382. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
[...] At length, when the Assembly broke up, such Clattering and squeedging down the gangway staircase! whilst the little Footboy bawled up from the Passage [...]