swab

[ swob ]

/ swɒb /

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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.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of swab

First recorded in 1645–55; back formation from swabber

OTHER WORDS FROM swab

un·swabbed, adjective

Other definitions for swab (2 of 2)

Swab.

abbreviation

Swabia.

Swabian.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use swab in a sentence

Objects included “speaker wire, an AAA battery, open safety pins, a plastic cup, straws, a marble, and a cotton-tipped swab.”
Sounding Takes Off, but Injuries (Fork in the Penis!) Are Inevitable|Kent Sepkowitz|August 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
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
This consists of a tarred rope, or a flexible whip-stalk, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, with a swab or bulbous end.
Domestic Animals|Richard L. Allen
I say, you young cub down there,” shouted the skipper to him from the hatchway, “come up and swab this deck.
Eric, or Little by Little|Frederic W. Farrar

A Lascar is standing by grinning, with a bucket of water and a deck-swab; they want to begin holystoning down the decks.
Round the Wonderful World|G. E. Mitton
Then I jumps off my white mule, takes the swab by the heels, an' chucks him over the warehouse into a cactus bush.
Captain Scraggs|Peter B. Kyne
Gordon is gone from us, and his name will pass, like that of the “swab” Tyler, into the quietude of the history-books.
Rivers of Great Britain. The Thames, from Source to Sea.|Anonymous

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

swab

Origin of swab

OTHER WORDS FROM swab

Other definitions for swab (2 of 2)

Words related to swab

How to use swab in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for swab

Word Origin for swab