swab

or swob

[ swob ]

/ swɒb /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR swab ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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.

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

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

Slang. a sailor; swabby.

Slang. a clumsy fellow.

verb (used with object), swabbed, swab·bing.

to clean with or as if with a swab: to swab the decks.

to take up or apply, as moisture, with or as if with a swab: to swab soapy water from the decks.

to pass over a surface: to swab a mop over the decks.

RELATED WORDS

daub, mop, sponge, wash, scrub, wipe

Nearby words

Origin of swab

First recorded in 1645–55; back formation from swabber

Related formsun·swabbed, adjective

Swab.

Swabia.

Swabian.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for swab

She submitted to a DNA swab after some discussions between the authorities and her lawyer.
Katherine Russell Under Scrutiny After Female DNA Found on Boston Bomb|Michael Daly|April 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Pour a little into a cup, and apply to the spots with a swab, but be sure not to allow the acid to touch the hands.
The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887)|Mrs. F.L. Gillette
Had not he possessed that, he would not have been at the head of the firm of Crank, Trunnion & Swab.
The Two Supercargoes|W.H.G. Kingston
The bauer by daylight was somewhat less of a Swab and gave me milk for my porridge, the first I had had for three months.
The New Germany|George Young

Put the nicest articles in the wash-dish, and wash them in hot suds, with the swab or nicest dish-cloth.
A Treatise on Domestic Economy|Catherine Esther Beecher
An attendant dipped a swab in a tub of salt and water to baste the ox, and moderate the fire.
The Loyalists of Massachusetts|James H. Stark

British Dictionary definitions for swab

swab

/ (swɒb) /

noun

med

a small piece of cotton, gauze, etc, for use in applying medication, cleansing a wound, or obtaining a specimen of a secretion, etc
the specimen so obtained

a mop for cleaning floors, decks, etc

a brush used to clean a firearm's bore

slang an uncouth or worthless fellow

verb swabs, swabbing or swabbed

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

(tr foll by up) to take up with a swab

Word Origin for swab

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

swab

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."

swab

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

Medicine definitions for swab

swab

[ swŏb ]

n.

A small piece of absorbent material attached to the end of a stick or wire and used for cleansing or applying medicine.

A specimen of mucus or other material removed with a swab.

swab

or swob

noun

verb (used with object), swabbed, swab·bing.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of swab

Swab.

Examples from the Web for swab

swab

noun

verb swabs, swabbing or swabbed

Word Origin for swab

swab

swab

swab

n.