From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Swab \Swab\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Swabbed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Swabbing}.] [See {Swabber}, n.]
To clean with a mop or swab; to wipe when very wet, as after
washing; as, to swab the desk of a ship. [Spelt also {swob}.]
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Swab \Swab\, n. [Written also swob.]
1. A kind of mop for cleaning floors, the desks of vessels,
etc., esp. one made of rope-yarns or threads.
[1913 Webster]
2. A bit of sponge, cloth, or the like, fastened to a handle,
for cleansing the mouth of a sick person, applying
medicaments to deep-seated parts, etc.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Naut.) An epaulet. [Sailor's Slang] --Marryat.
[1913 Webster]
4. A cod, or pod, as of beans or pease. [Obs.] --Bailey.
[1913 Webster]
5. A sponge, or other suitable substance, attached to a long
rod or handle, for cleaning the bore of a firearm.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
swab
n 1: 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 [syn: {swab}, {swob}, {mop}]
v 1: wash with a swab or a mop; "swab the ship's decks" [syn:
{swab}, {swob}]
2: apply (usually a liquid) to a surface; "dab the wall with
paint" [syn: {dab}, {swab}, {swob}]
From The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003) [jargon]:
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}.
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