swabber

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From swab +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

swabber (plural swabbers)

  1. One who swabs a floor or deck.
    • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
      The master, the swabber, the boatswain, and I,
      The gunner, and his mate,
      Lov'd Mall, Meg, and Marian, and Margery,
      But none of us car'd for Kate: […]
    • 1923, Charles Boardman Hawes, The Dark Frigate, Chapter 7:
      It was the old custom of the sea that they should hail as a liar the man first caught in a lie on a Monday morning and proclaim him thus from the mainmast, and unhappy was the man thus hailed, for thereby he became for a week the ‘‘ship’s liar” and held his place under the swabber.
  2. An instrument for swabbing.
    • 2017, Emily Suvada, This Mortal Coil, page 337:
      Meaningless filler code that shouldn't interact with a person's DNA. […] He pulls a pen-size swabber from his pocket, chrome finished with a needle point on one end, and a pad for swabbing on the other.
  3. A baker's implement for cleaning ovens.
  4. (nautical, historical) An interior officer on British warships, responsible for seeing that the ship was kept clean.
  5. (card games) Four privileged cards, formerly used in betting in whist.
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