different between swabby vs swab

English

Alternative forms

• swabbie

Etymology

swab +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sw?bi/

Noun

swabby (plural swabbies)

1. (informal) A sailor.

English

Etymology

Mid 17th century (in the sense 'mop for cleaning the decks'): back-formation from Middle English swabber (“sailor detailed to swab decks”), from Middle Dutch zwabber, from a Germanic base meaning 'splash' or 'sway', also found as nautical German Schwabber and Volga German Schwabber, a general term for cleaning tissues.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sw?b, IPA^(key): /sw?b/
• Rhymes: -?b

Noun

swab (plural swabs)

1. (medicine) A small piece of soft, absorbent material, such as gauze, used to clean wounds, apply medicine, or take samples of body fluids. Often attached to a stick or wire to aid access.
2. A sample taken with a swab (piece of absorbent material).
3. A piece of material used for cleaning or sampling other items like musical instruments or guns.
4. A mop, especially on a ship.
5. (slang) A sailor; a swabby.
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, ch. 25:

     As for that swab, he's good and dead, he is.

6. (slang) A naval officer's epaulet.

Synonyms

• (sailor): swabby

Translations

Verb

swab (third-person singular simple present swabs, present participle swabbing, simple past and past participle swabbed)

1. (transitive) To use a swab on something, or clean something with a swab.

Translations

Anagrams

• AWBs, wabs

Egyptian

Romanization

swab

1. Manuel de Codage transliteration of sw?b.