swab

noun

/swɒb/

/swɑːb/

a piece of soft material used by a doctor, nurse, etc. for cleaning wounds or taking a sample from somebody’s body for testing（医用的）拭子，药签 see also cotton swabTopics Healthcarec2
an act of taking a sample from somebody’s body, with a swab用拭子对（人体）化验标本的采集
- to take a throat swab用棉签从咽部采集化验样品
Topics Healthcarec2

Word Originmid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘mop for cleaning the decks’): back-formation from swabber ‘sailor detailed to swab decks’, from early modern Dutch zwabber, from a Germanic base meaning ‘splash’ or ‘sway’.

Wordfinder

biopsy
diagnose
examine
sample
scan
swab
symptom
test
ultrasound
X-ray

swab

verb

/swɒb/

/swɑːb/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they swab	/swɒb/ /swɑːb/
he / she / it swabs	/swɒbz/ /swɑːbz/
past simple swabbed	/swɒbd/ /swɑːbd/
past participle swabbed	/swɒbd/ /swɑːbd/
-ing form swabbing	/ˈswɒbɪŋ/ /ˈswɑːbɪŋ/

swab something to clean or remove liquid from a wound, etc., using a swab用拭子擦拭Topics Healthcarec2
swab something (down) to clean or wash a floor, surface, etc. using water and a cloth, etc.擦洗，擦拭（地板等）
- I swabbed down the table using disinfectant.我用消毒剂擦拭桌子。
- Swab each nail free of grease before applying nail polish.涂指甲油之前，先擦掉每个指甲上的油脂。