Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Swab |
SwabNoun1. Implement consisting of a small piece of cotton that is used to apply medication or cleanse a wound or obtain a specimen of a secretion. 2. Cleaning implement consisting of absorbent material fastened to a handle; for cleaning floors. Verb1. Wash with a swab or a mop; "swab the ship's decks". 2. Apply (usually a liquid) to a surface. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "swab" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1861. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | Swab /swob/ [From the mnemonic for the PDP-11 `SWAp Byte' instruction, as immortalized in the `dd(1)' option `conv=swab' (see dd)] 1. vt. To solve the NUXI problem by swapping bytes in a file. 2. n. The program in V7 Unix used to perform this action, or anything functionally equivalent to it. See also big-endian, little-endian, middle-endian, bytesexual. Source: Jargon File. |
Building & Civil Engineering | A tool similar to the piston in a cylinder pump. By moving it up and down in the well cases(casing or tubing)a surging action is created thereby cleaning the screen and the pores in the walls of the well. Source: European Union. (references) |
Medicine | A plug used to occludate an orifice in the control of bleeding, or to mop up secretions ; an absorbant pad. Source: European Union. (references) |
| A pad of absorbent material. . . sometimes attached to a stick or wire used for cleaning out or applying medication to wounds. . . Source: European Union. (references) | |
| Cotton or gauze on end of slender stick used for cleansing cavities, applying remedies, or for obtaining a piece of tissue or secretion for bacteriological examination?. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Mining | A. A pistonlike device provided with a rubber cap ring that is used to clean out debris inside a borehole or casing b. See:bailer; sand pump. c. In well drilling, to pull the drill string so rapidly that the drill mud is sucked up and overflows the collar of the borehole, thus leaving an undesirably empty borehole d. Procedure for applying suction within the casing or tubing to draw fluid from a reservoir rock e. A rod with flexible rubber suction cups working inside the pipe on a wire line f. A hemp brush used in founding, esp. for holding water, moistening mold joints, spraying on edges, or spreading blacking on dry-sand mold. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: SwabSynonyms: mop (n), dab (v), swob (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Bungler | No conjurer, flat, muff, slow coach, looby, lubber, swab; clod, yokel, awkward squad, blanc-bec; galoot. |
Cleanness | Napkin, cloth, maukin, malkin, handkerchief, towel, sudary; doyley, doily, duster, sponge, mop, swab. |
Clean, cleanse; mundify, rinse, wring, flush, full, wipe, mop, sponge, scour, swab, scrub, brush up. | |
Dryness | Render dry. Adjective: dry; dry up, soak up; sponge, swab, wipe; drain. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Swab |
| English words defined with "swab": dry mop, dust mop, dustmop ♦ Fire swab ♦ Squilgee, Swabbed, Swabber, swob. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "swab": automatic forming machine operator ♦ bottle-blowing-machine tender ♦ COLORIST, PHOTOGRAPHY, CUT-AND-COVER LINE WORKER ♦ Dwile ♦ -endian ♦ film inspector, flow machine operator, FORMING-MACHINE OPERATOR, FORMING-MACHINE TENDER ♦ glass blower, machine forming ♦ head well-puller, hempen swab ♦ INSPECTOR, CIRCUITRY NEGATIVE ♦ MOLDING-MACHINE OPERATOR ♦ NUXI problem ♦ PAINTER, SIGN, PIPE FINISHER, press-and-blow-machine tender ♦ RECLAMATION WORKER, RESTORER, CERAMIC ♦ SHOE DYER, shoe tinter, SMOKING-PIPE LINER, SWABBERS ♦ tinter, photograph ♦ WELL PULLER, HEAD, wipe test. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | It was only the cotton swab. (Big Wolf on Campus; writing credit: Masanao Akahoshi; Kei'ichi Hasegawa) It's a very rough cotton swab. (Big Wolf on Campus; writing credit: Masanao Akahoshi; Kei'ichi Hasegawa) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Swab the Duck (1956) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Crewmen swab down the top of the cruiser's number two eight-inch gun turret, in preparation for chipping and repainting. She is at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, during her initial post-reactivation trials, circa September 1951. She was recommissioned on 25 September. Credit: NAVY. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Swab pot" by Carlos Gustavo Curado Commentary: "Swab pot." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Play | Caption | Play | Caption |
 | Swish; swirl; flush; cleanse; douche; drench; eject; expel; flood; hose; inundate; rinse; swab; wash. | | Wipe; clean; swoosh; rain; downpour; swab. |
| Clean; clean off; clear; dry; dust; erase; mop; obliterate; remove; rub; sponge; swab; take away; towel; wash; squeak. | | Swish; swirl; flush; cleanse; douche; drench; eject; expel; flood; hose; inundate; rinse; swab; wash. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Swab the bite area thoroughly with an antiseptic to prevent bacterial infection. (references) | |
GBS carriage can be detected during pregnancy by taking a swab of both the vagina and rectum for special culture. (references) | ||
Making a diagnosis usually requires laboratory testing of a genital swab taken from the affected area by a physician. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Swab" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 84.21% of the time. "Swab" is used about 38 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 84.21% | 32 | 61,292 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 7.89% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 7.89% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 38 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "swab" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Swab | Last name | 200 | 39,083 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "swab": cotton swab ♦ Fire swab ♦ hempen swab ♦ swab down ♦ swab hitch. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "swab": swab-on-a-stick. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
charles swab | 53 | swab drug testing | 4 |
swab | 39 | male position swab | 3 |
les swab | 33 | cotton machine swab | 3 |
les swab tire | 26 | cup swab | 3 |
swab plus | 8 | cotton q swab tip | 3 |
swab urethral | 8 | dryer swab | 3 |
rig swab | 8 | sensor swab | 2 |
swab drug test | 6 | less swab | 2 |
cotton swab | 6 | swab vaginal | 2 |
cleaning swab validation | 6 | swab throat | 2 |
swab test | 5 | swab testing | 2 |
center les swab tire | 4 | drug mouth swab testing | 2 |
buccal swab | 4 | alcohol swab | 2 |
drug mouth swab test | 4 | cotton drug swab test | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "swab"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | shtupë (plug, sponge, stopgap, stopper, stupe, swob, tow, wad, washcloth, wiper), tampon (sponge, swob, tampon, tent). (various references) | |
Arabic | ممسحة السفن, مسح (clean, extinguish, mop, mop up, mopping, polish, rub, scanning, scrub, sponge, survey, sweep, wipe, wiping), نظف بالقطن, نظف (char, clean, clean out, clear, clear away, do, mop, pan, purge, purify, rub, sanitize, scavenge, scour, scrub, wash out), قطن طبي (cotton wool), عينة (pattern, piece, sample, snip, specimen, specious, taking), الفظ (churl, clown), شخص تافه (bauble, black sheep, bugger, crumb, deformity, dog, insect, morsel, myrmidon, nitwit, peanut, pipsqueak, rag, sprat, toad, trash). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | тромав човек (gawk, hulk, lump), мърляв човек, моряк (flatfoot, hearty, jolly, mariner, navigator, sailor, seafarer, seafaring man, seaman, shipman, tar, tarpaulin), мия с подомиячка, попивам вода, подомиячка с дръжка (swob), пипкав човек (dawdler, laggard, numb hand, slowcoach). (various references) | |
Chinese | 拖把. (various references) | |
Czech | vytírat, utírat (rub, swob, wipe, wipe off, wipe out), tampon (wipe), mop (mop), hadr na utírání. (various references) | |
Danish | svaberprøve, svaber (squeegee), visker (compress, pad, pledget, sponge, squeegee, tampon), vatpind, tampon (plug, tampon), pelotte (compress, pad, pelotte, pledget, sponge, tampon), kroelle (compress, pad, pledget, sponge, tampon), kompres (compress, Esmarch tourniquet, pack, packing, pad, pledget, sponge, tampon, tourniquet). (various references) | |
Dutch | swab-stick, stokdweil, zwabber, zuiger (piston), wattenprop (compress, cotton pad, cotton wadding, cotton wool ball, pad, pledget, pledget of wadding, plug of wadding, sponge, tampon), tampon (plug, tampon), propwatten, pelotte (compress, pad, pelotte, pledget, sponge, tampon), dweil. (various references) | |
Farsi | پیچیدن (Complicate, Envelop, Enwrap, Fake, Impact, Lap, Nest, Reverberate, Roll, Screw, Swath, Swathe, Tweak, Twinge, Twist, Wattle, Wind, Wrap), پنبه برای پاک کردن جاروب , لوله پاک کن , گردوخاک گرفتن , تاب خوردن (Oscillate, Sway, Swing), سنبه زدن (Ram), سنبه جراحی , زخم وگوش وغیره , زدودن (Clean, Efface, Obliterate, Purge, Remove, Scour, Scrape, Shuck, Sweep, Wipe), اسفنج زمین شوءی , باکهنه اب چیزی راکشیدن . (various references) | |
Finnish | porausreiän puhdistin, köysiluuta (mop), harsotukko. (various references) | |
French | tampon, faubert. (various references) | |
German | tupfer (dab, speckle, wadding, whirl), schrubben (scrub, to swab). (various references) | |
Greek | μάκτρο (swob). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מטלית (cloth, duster, flannel, mop, patch, rag), למרוח (anoint, daub, plaster, rub in, spread), לשטוף (flood, inundate, rinse, stream, swill, wash, wash away), לנגב (absterge, dry, mop, sop up, towel, wipe), ספוגית (foam rubber, sponge), סחבה (rag, tatter). (various references) | |
Hungarian | tampon (dossil, gauze plug, sponge, tampon, wad), kenet (salve, smear, unction), feltörlőrongy, felmosórongy (floor cloth, floorcloth, floor-cloth, rag), esetlen fickó (hobbledehoy, lummox, slouch). (various references) | |
Indonesian | mengepel. (various references) | |
Italian | tampone (buffer, pad, pledget, plug, stopper, swob, tampon, tent, wad). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 綿棒 (cotton swab). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | めんぼう (acne, cotton spinning, cotton swab, looks, pimple, rolling pin). (various references) | |
Manx | taaheen, jioleyder (mop, sponger, sucker), jiole seose (absorb, mop, mop up, mopping). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | absway.(various references) | |
Portuguese | pistão (forcer, piston, plunger), pincelar (paint, swob), mecha de algodão (swob), indivíduo desajeitado (slob, swabber, swob), galão de oficial (swob), esfregão (mop, rubber, swob), cotonete (cotton swab, swob). (various references) | |
Russian | смазывать тампон, швабра (mop, swob), мазок (brushstroke, dab, swob). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | tampon (swob, tampon), obrisati (dry, wipe, wipe away, wipe off, wipe up), očistiti (clean, clean off, cleanse, clear, do away, expurgate, purge, scavenge, scour, shine), koji briše, brisač (wiper). (various references) | |
Spanish | estropajo (dishcloth, scourer, scouring pad, scrubber, steelwool, swob), escobillón (swob). (various references) | |
Swedish | svabb (mop), skura (polish, scour, scrub), skrubba (fray, gall, graze, scrub). (various references) | |
Thai | กะลาสีเรือ (คำสแลง). (various references) | |
Turkish | temizlik bezi (rubber, swob), tayfa (company, crew, deck hand, seaman recruit), tahta bezi (floor cloth, scrubbing cloth), paspas bezi (swob), palas turpa, paçavra (clout, rag, scrap, scraps, shred, tatter), ilaçlı pamuk (swob), bulaşık bezi (dish cloth, dishcloth, swob), bez (article of clothing, cloth, fabric, garment, gland, linen, materials), alçak herif (bugger, dastard, rascal, scoundrel, skunk, spalpeen, wretch), alçak (abandoned, abject, base, baseborn, blackguard, contemptible, cowardly, dastardly, heel, humble, ignoble, lousy, low, low down, lowrise, misbegotten, nasty, nefarious, no good, rascally, ravisher, recreant, scoundrel, scoundrelly, short, sneak, sneaking, sneaky, sordid, squat, swob, vile, villainous). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | тампон (swob, tampon, wad), швабра (bear, mop, swabber, swob), витирати тампоном (swob), мити шваброю (swob), підтирати (swob, wipe up), помазок (brush, swob). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "swab": swabbed, swabber, swabbers, swabbie, swabbies, swabbing, swabby, swabs. (additional references) | |
| |
"Swab" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Eswa, Iwaba, saab, sab, sgab, Shwayb, Shwob, Siab, skab, snab, snabb, soab, Spab, Ssab, swabby, swabe, swabi, Swaby, swak, swao, swaub, swav, swax, swaz, sweb, swib, swiv, wab. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: wabs. | |
| Words within the letters "a-b-s-w" | |
-1 letter: abs, bas, sab, saw, wab, was. | |
-2 letters: ab, as, aw, ba. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-b-s-w" | |
+1 letter: bawds, bawls, blaws, braws, swabs. | |
+2 letters: bashaw, brawls, brawns, bushwa, bwanas, bylaws, byways, nawabs, subway, swabby, wasabi. | |
+3 letters: abwatts, backsaw, bagwigs, barlows, barrows, bashaws, bawbees, bawdies, bawlers, bawsunt, bawties, beeswax, beswarm, bewails, bewares, bewraps, bewrays, brawest, bucksaw, bushwah, bushwas, byelaws, sawbill, sawbuck, sewable, sowable, subways, swabbed, swabber, swabbie, wabbles, wambles, warbles, wasabis, washtub, wombats. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Sounds | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Names: Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Derivations 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
