Also 9 swob. [In branch I, cogn. w. or a. MLG. swabben to splash in water or mire, LG. swabben to splash, (of soft bodies) to sway, also, to slap, flap. In branch II. back-formation from SWABBER1.
The root swab- denoting backward-and-forward motion, esp. splashing or dabbling in liquid, is repr. in Du. zwabben to swab, do dirty work, be tossed about, Norw. svabba to spill water, wade, splash, befoul, WFris. swabje to swim (of waterfowl), to roam about. See also SWABBLE.]
I. 1. intr. To sway about. dial.
14[?]. [see SWABBLE].
a. 1854. Clare, MS. Poems. The billows swab behind.
1854. Miss Baker, Northampt. Gloss., Swob, to sway and vibrate with the wind, to wave.
1881. Leicestersh. Gloss., Swab, to sway, like boughs in the wind.
1887. S. Chesh. Gloss., Swob, to sway beneath the feet; said of marshy ground.
II. † 2. ? To act like a swab or swabber; to behave in an unmannerly fashion. Obs. rare.
1638. Ford, Fancies, II. i. Rudeness! Keep off, or I shall—Sawcy groom, learn manners! Go swab amongst your goblins.
3. To apply a swab to; to cleanse or wipe with or as with a swab; to mop up. Also with down.
1719. D’Urfey, Pills (1872), III. 304. All hands up aloft, Swab the Coach fore and aft.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), Fauberter, to swab a ship’s decks, &c.
1834. Marryat, P. Simple, vi. The main-deck, which they were swabbing dry.
1836. E. Howard, R. Reefer, II. iv. 32. ‘It melts me,’ responded the doctor, swabbing his face with the napkin.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, ii. After we had finished, swabbed down decks, and coiled up the rigging.
1852. Dickens, Bleak Ho., xvii. If you only have to swab a plank, you should swab it as if Davy Jones were after you.
1854. [see SWAB sb.1 1 b].
1882. Barnett, in Macm. Mag., XLVI. 174. The prisoners were ‘swabbing’ their filthy dens!
1883. F. M. Crawford, Dr. Claudius, ix. 147. A party of red-capped tars were … swabbing the forward deck.
1903. Lancet, 4 April, 946/1. After swabbing out the throat with a swab from the throat of a case of scarlet fever an exudative tonsillitis resulted.
4. To mop up (liquid) with or as with a swab.
1745. P. Thomas, Jrnl. Anson’s Voy., 285. It seems they had ten Men quartered on Purpose to swab up the Blood.
1819. G. Beattie, Bark, 128. I swabbed from my cheeks the tears and the spray.
1837. Marryat, Snarleyyow, xxxvi. The corporal … swabbed up the blood.
5. To souse as with a mop.
1762. Mills, Syst. Pract. Husb., I. 155. Thus we see a smith swab and wet his coals.
6. To draw like a swab over a surface.
1892. Photogr. Ann., II. 47. The plate is sloped, and the brush … is swabbed across the required portion.
