swabby

Or swab·bie

[swob-ee]

noun

plural

swabbies 

1. Slang.,  (in the Navy or Coast Guard) a sailor; gob.

Word History and Origins

Origin of swabby¹

First recorded in 1940–45; swab + -y ²

Example Sentences

You love working with Joe Mantello so much that when he directed the Sting musical, “The Last Ship,” you wanted him to write you a cameo role as an asexual deckhand named Swabby.

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We were laughing about Swabby.

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Carlyle is the ship’s swabby—a guy with bright red hair in a short peach fuzz, and a smile friendlier than anyone else’s on the ship.

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“I’m a swabby by choice,” he told me once.

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Carlyle, the swabby, is also there.

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