Swab

6 definitions found

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) 2.0 [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: {swob}, {mop}]
       v 1: wash with a swab or a mop; "swab the ship's decks" [syn: {swob}]
       2: apply (usually a liquid) to a surface; "dab the wall with
          paint" [syn: {dab}, {swob}]
       [also: {swabbing}, {swabbed}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  65 Moby Thesaurus words for "swab":
     air-dry, anhydrate, bake, baptize, bath, bathe, blot, brush, burn,
     cure, dehumidify, dehydrate, desiccate, douche, drain, dry,
     evaporate, exsiccate, fire, flush, flush out, gargle, holystone,
     insolate, irrigate, kiln, lather, launder, lave, mop, mop up,
     mummify, parch, rinse, rinse out, ritually immerse, rub, scorch,
     scour, scrub, scrub up, sear, shampoo, shower, shrivel, sluice,
     sluice out, smoke, soak up, soap, sponge, sun, sun-dry, syringe,
     toivel, torrefy, towel, tub, wash, wash out, wash up, weazen, wipe,
     wither, wizen
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [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}.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  swab
       
          /swob/ The {PDP-11} swap byte instruction mnemonic, as
          immortalised in the {dd} option "conv=swab".
       
          1. To solve the {NUXI problem} by swapping bytes in a file.
       
          2.  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}.
       
          [{Jargon File}]