I. swab¹ /swɒb $ swɑːb/ noun [countable]
[Date: 1600-1700; Origin: Probably from early Dutch swabbe]

1. a small piece of material used to clean a wound or take a small amount of a substance from someone’s body in order to test it:
a cotton swab

2. a small amount of a substance that is taken from someone’s body with a swab in order to test it:
The doctor took a throat swab to check for infection.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. swab² verb (past tense and past participle swabbed, present participle swabbing) [transitive]

1. (also swab something ↔ down) to clean something using a large amount of water:
a girl who was swabbing the tiled floor with a mop

2. to clean a wound with a small piece of special material

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲