/ swɒb; NAmE swɑːb/ noun , verb
■ noun
1.
a piece of soft material used by a doctor, nurse, etc. for cleaning wounds or taking a sample from sb's body for testing
2.
an act of taking a sample from sb's body, with a swab :
to take a throat swab
■ verb ( -bb- ) [ vn ]
1.
to clean or remove liquid from a wound, etc., using a swab
2.
swab sth (down) to clean or wash a floor, surface, etc. using water and a cloth, etc.
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 17th cent. (in the sense mop for cleaning the decks ): back-formation from swabber sailor detailed to swab decks , from early modern Dutch zwabber , from a Germanic base meaning splash or sway.