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Meanings of swab in English

Portuguese
esfregão
Catalan
pal de fregar
Wikidata

Cleaning implement consisting of absorbent material fastened to a handle; for cleaning floors.

esfregão
Catalan
fregar
Spanish
limpiar

Apply (usually a liquid) to a surface.

fregar
Synonyms
Examples for "mop"
Examples for "mop"
1
Government controlled economic activity became an unemployment mop, activated on ministerial whim.
The Irish Times
2
Hannah wrung out the mop viciously and hung it over the sink.
Project Gutenberg Complete Works of Winston Churchill
3
And through it all the old mother continued to mop the floor.
Merton of the Movies
4
Men that mop up the decks after everybody else has turned in.
West Wind Drift
5
The party met for its post-election mop up, and to say goodbyes.
Radio NZ
1
"I never thought that I should be called a 'Swob.'"
The Luck of Thirteen: Wanderings and Flight through Montenegro a...

An absorbent material fixed to a stick for sampling a biological material (such as saliva, blood, etc.).

Usage of swab in English
1
For more information or to receive a free swab kit, visit DeleteBloodCancer.org.
Ebony
2
The person taking the swab has no direct contact with the patient.
News.com.au
3
Dentists usually apply it with a simple cotton swab or cotton roll.
Jamaica Observer
4
After the discharge the gun was wiped out with a wet swab.
Out of Doors—California and Oregon
5
Until now GPs have had to swab every patient with a sniffle.
Radio NZ
6
Always be careful to keep the swab behind you, out of sight.
Frank on a Gun-Boat
7
Phone apps that squawk to remind you to swab down your desk.
The Irish Times
8
He now could do no work whatever, not even swab the deck.
Eric; Or, Little by Little
9
Use a swab made by twisting some absorbent cotton upon a toothpick.
Mother's Remedies / Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies ...
10
Darby did an oral swab on the insides of the woman's cheeks.
The missing
11
Arter him we tacked, detarmined ter punish ther swab fer his imperdence.
Jack Wright and His Electric Stage; or, Leagued Against the Jame...
12
Instead he wiped the hollow of Chandler's elbow with an alcohol swab.
Shift
13
Blessed if I believe the swab was a certificated doctor at all.
Beyond the City
14
Health-and-safety technicians entered in full-body moonsuits to swab the quarters for viruses.
Riding rockets
15
The test involves a nasal swab with a blood test for antibodies.
The Irish Times
16
The virus is detected via a nasopharyngeal swab, and by blood tests.
News.com.au
About this term
More collocations
Translations for swab
Portuguese
esfregão
Swab through the time
Swab across language varieties
New Zealand
Common
United States of America
Less common
United Kingdom
Rare