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, 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.

Swab.

²

abbreviation for

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. trfoll byup to take up with a swab

Other Words From

• un·swabbed 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

Objects included “speaker wire, an AAA battery, open safety pins, a plastic cup, straws, a marble, and a cotton-tipped swab.”

From The Daily Beast

She submitted to a DNA swab after some discussions between the authorities and her lawyer.

From The 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.

From Project Gutenberg

I say, you young cub down there,” shouted the skipper to him from the hatchway, “come up and swab this deck.

From Project Gutenberg

A Lascar is standing by grinning, with a bucket of water and a deck-swab; they want to begin holystoning down the decks.

From Project Gutenberg

Then I jumps off my white mule, takes the swab by the heels, an' chucks him over the warehouse into a cactus bush.

From Project Gutenberg

Gordon is gone from us, and his name will pass, like that of the “swab” Tyler, into the quietude of the history-books.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• daub
• mop