swab

or swob

[swob]

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.

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

Related Words for swab

daub, mop, sponge, wash, scrub, wipe

Examples from the Web for swab

Contemporary Examples of 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

Historical Examples of swab

“Here, you, get a swab and mop that up,” I commanded in my harshest manner.
The Mutiny of the Elsinore
Jack London
Then clear out on deck and swab the curry off your face, you beast!
The Ebbing Of The Tide
Louis Becke
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

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

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."

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

swab in Medicine

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.