Swab the Deck Came Before the Medical Swab
A swab is an absorbent pad for cleaning or sampling. The word began at sea.
A swab is an absorbent pad used for cleaning or for taking a sample, and *to swab* is to clean with one. It started as a mop: Dutch *zwabber* named the mop used to clean a ship's deck, and *swabber* was a low shipboard rank — which is why *swab* became an insult among sailors long before it became a medical instrument. The medical sense arrived in the 1800s, and the DNA swab is a twentieth-century descendant of the deck mop.
- An absorbent pad. *A cotton swab.*
- To clean. *Swabbing the deck.*
- A sample. *A throat swab.*
- An insult (nautical). *You swab.*
- Dutch — *zwabber*, a mop. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | swab | A swab. |
| Verb | swab | Swabbing. |
| Past | swabbed | Swabbed. |
| Agent | swabber | A swabber. |
| Dutch | zwabber | A mop. |
- Swab the decks.Nautical.
- The nurse took a swab.Medical.
- A DNA swab.Forensic.
Dutch words English took to sea
- Swab — from *zwabber*, a mop
- Skipper — from *schipper*, a ship's master
- Yacht — from *jacht*, a hunting ship
- Deck — from *dek*, a covering
- Cruise — from *kruisen*, to cross
From Dutch *zwabber*, a mop for cleaning a deck, recorded in English from the 1600s.
Why is a medical swab called that?
The word began as a ship's mop and moved to any absorbent pad used for cleaning, then to sampling in the 1800s.
Why was swab an insult?
Swabber was among the lowest shipboard ranks, so calling someone a swab was a slight.