Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗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. · A sample taken with a swab (piece of absorbent material). · A piece of material used for cleaning or sampling other items like musical instruments or guns. · A mop, especially on a ship.
To use a swab on something, or clean something with a swab.
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 ("scrubber, mop, swab")
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 3 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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"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.",
"A sample taken with a swab (piece of absorbent material).",
"A piece of material used for cleaning or sampling other items like musical instruments or guns.",
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