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swab

or swob

[swob]
See more synonyms for swab on Thesaurus.com
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.
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verb (used with object), swabbed, swab·bing.
  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.
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Origin of swab

First recorded in 1645–55; back formation from swabber
Related formsun·swabbed, adjective

Swab.

  1. Swabia.
  2. Swabian.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

daubmopspongewashscrubwipe

Examples from the Web for swab

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • “Here, you, get a swab and mop that up,” I commanded in my harshest manner.

  • Then clear out on deck and swab the curry off your face, you beast!

  • How could I permit that swab to mock me and abuse my father as a thief?

    Foma Gordyeff

    Maxim Gorky

  • Ill teach you how to sail a schooner and how to go about barefoot and swab decks.

    The Rough Road

    William John Locke

  • A line bent to the eye of a swab for dipping it overboard in washing it.

    The Sailor's Word-Book

    William Henry Smyth

British Dictionary definitions for swab

swab

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
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verb swabs, swabbing or swabbed
  1. (tr) to clean or medicate with or as if with a swab
  2. (tr foll by up) to take up with a swab
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Word Origin

C16: probably from Middle Dutch swabbe mop; related to Norwegian svabba to splash, Dutch zwabberen to mop, German schwappen to slop over
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for swab

n.

1650s, "mop made of rope or yarn," from swabber (c.1600) "mop for cleaning a ship's deck," from Dutch zwabber, akin to West Frisian swabber "mop," from Proto-Germanic *swab-, perhaps of imitative origin. Non-nautical meaning "anything used for mopping up" is from 1787. Slang meaning "a sailor" first attested 1798, from swabber "member of a ship's crew assigned to swab decks" (1590s), which by 1609 was being used in a broader sense of "one who behaves like a low-ranking sailor."

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v.

1719, possibly from swab (n.). Related: Swabbed; swabbing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
swab in Medicine

swab

(swŏb)
n.
  1. A small piece of absorbent material attached to the end of a stick or wire and used for cleansing or applying medicine.
  2. A specimen of mucus or other material removed with a swab.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.