a wad of absorbent material used for applying medication, cleaning wounds, taking specimens, etca specimen taken with a swaba mop or spongearchaic a useless or contemptible person
to clean (a wound) with a swabto apply medication to (a part of the body) with a swab(often + down) to clean (a surface, esp a deck) by washing, esp with a mopswabber noun[back-formation from swabber sailor whose job was to swab decks, from Dutch zwabber, from zwabberen to mop]