Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (Aus.) a fool, a simpleton.

1955		N. Pulliam I Travelled a Lonely Land (1957) 98: Sure there was a warb now and then, same as every other army has.
1959		Baker Drum 155: Warb, [...] 3. A simpleton or fool.
1972		J. McNeill Old Familiar Juice (1973) 101: bulla: [T]hat’s exactly what this old warb is: a backward m.u.g.

2. (Aus.) a dirty, unkempt person; a loafer.

1933		L. Robinson ‘Memoirs of a Professional Escaper’ in Murdoch & Drake-Brockman Aus. Short Stories (1951) 215: We were both of us what, in the back country, are called ‘warbs’, meaning confirmed and irredeemable loafers.
1959		Baker Drum 155: Warb, [...] 2. A dirty or untidy person.
1967		‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xliii 11/2: warb: A very grubby person.
1983		R. Aven-Bray Ridgey-Didge Oz Jack Lang 9: He did not want to lob into any of the pubs where the stiffs and warbs hung out.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Warb. A vagrant. Derives from the name applied to a maggot (warbie) that exists in the skin of cattle.
1990		Sydney Morn. Herald 5 June 26/6: [W]arb-bashing has broken out in State Parliament with one staff member [...] having been shown the yellow card for sloppy dress standards.

3. (Aus.) a drunkard, a down-and-out.

1977

cited in Partridge DSUE (1984).

4. (Aus.) a low-paid manual worker.

1956		Argus (Melbourne) 30 Apr. 4/2: ‘Warb’ was Australian for a travelling circus laborer.
1959		Baker Drum 155: Warb, a low-paid manual worker.