swab

¹

[swob]

noun

1. a large mop used on shipboard for cleaning decks, living quarters, etc.

2. a bit of sponge, cloth, cotton, or the like, sometimes fixed to a stick, for cleansing the mouth of a sick person or for applying medicaments, drying areas, etc.

3. the material collected with a swab as a specimen for microscopic study.

4. a brush or wad of absorbent material for cleaning the bore of a firearm.

5. Slang.,  a sailor; swabby.

6. Slang.,  a clumsy fellow.

verb (used with object)

swabbed, swabbing 

1. to clean with or as if with a swab.

   to swab the decks.

2. to take up or apply, as moisture, with or as if with a swab.

   to swab soapy water from the decks.

3. to pass over a surface.

   to swab a mop over the decks.

Swab.

²

abbreviation

1. Swabia.

2. Swabian.

swab

/ swɒb /

noun

1. med

   1. a small piece of cotton, gauze, etc, for use in applying medication, cleansing a wound, or obtaining a specimen of a secretion, etc

   2. the specimen so obtained

2. a mop for cleaning floors, decks, etc

3. a brush used to clean a firearm's bore

4. slang,  an uncouth or worthless fellow

verb

1. (tr) to clean or medicate with or as if with a swab

2. to take up with a swab

Other Word Forms

• unswabbed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of swab¹

First recorded in 1645–55; back formation from swabber

Word History and Origins

Origin of swab¹

C16: probably from Middle Dutch swabbe mop; related to Norwegian svabba to splash, Dutch zwabberen to mop, German schwappen to slop over

Example Sentences

But immediately after the crash, investigators carried out the meticulous process of swabbing the interior of the VW Polo for any forensic samples that could link the driver to that seat.

Read more on BBC

The other men had gone back to swabbing out the dories, stacking them neatly one inside the next.

Read more on Literature

I have been working hard too, shoveling coal, swabbing the deck, & doing other chores.

Read more on Literature

Forensic teams swabbed the glass-strewn gallery as well as the equipment the thieves left behind.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A second stage of the analysis has already taken saliva swabs from women to measure levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• daub 
• mop