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

A woman standing in line for a coronavirus test asks one of the officials if the test—a nose and throat swab—hurts.

From Fortune

The throat swab is less invasive, requiring only a quick brush of the back of the tongue.

From Fortune

The Food and Drug Administration has issued emergency authorizations for more than 150 diagnostic Covid-19 tests, including those that rely on saliva and others that require a swab of deep in the nasal cavity, the front of the nose or the throat.

From Fortune

The claims also included codes for a nasal swab coronavirus test.

From ProPublica

The physician’s orders documented in the facility’s medical record also do not mention the nasal swab test.

From ProPublica

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