swabn.1adj.
/swɒb/, U.S. /swɑb/ 1.
a. A mop made of rope-yarn, etc. used for cleaning and drying the deck, etc. on board ship.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > wiping > [noun] > mopping or swabbing > mop or swab > specific on board ship
swab1659
1659 G. Torriano Florio's Vocabolario Italiano & Inglese Strofinaccio.., a swab in a ship, a clout~mop in a boat.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Swab, a sort of mop formed of a large bunch of old rope-yarns..used to clean the decks and cabins of a ship.
1797 S. James Narr. Voy. 230 We..choaked the pumps up with wringing swabs.
1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions II. 233 A small broom and a ‘swab’.
1893 M. Pemberton Iron Pirate 182 Others of the crew brought buckets and swabs unbidden, and cleansed the place.
b. Anything used for mopping up; an absorbent mass of rag, cotton-wool, or the like, used for cleansing; any mass or bundle of stuff that takes up moisture, or that, being soaked, is applied to a surface.Also Medicine a specimen of a morbid secretion, etc., taken with a swab for bacteriological examination.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > wiping > [noun] > mopping or swabbing > mop or swab
swipple14..
mapplea1406
malkin1440
mop1496
makron1552
swabber1606
swab1787
swab-stick1839
file1851
squilgee1851
the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > tests > [noun] > materials tested
blood film1856
blood sample1873
blood1890
night-blood1894
smear1903
swab1903
phantom1922
cervical smear1944
1787 M. Cutler Jrnl. 11 July in W. P. Cutler & J. P. Cutler Life, Jrnls. & Corr. M. Cutler (1888) I. 243 The hostler is at the door, ready to take your horse,..rubs him down, then washes him with a swab and wipes him dry.
1828 Sporting Mag. 22 354 The swab, which, when well saturated with water, is tied round the outside of the coronets.
1842 J. L. Motley Diary 18 Jan. in Corr. (1889) I. iv. 117 The archbishop with a little mop or swab twirling water on all the dignitaries.
1854 Poultry Chron. 1 369/1 If they rattle badly in the throat, make a swab by tying a little tow on a small stick, and swab their throats out with the same mixture.
1889 P. N. Hasluck Model Engineer's Handybk. 139 The mixture can be applied with a small brush, or a swab tied to the end of a stick.
1903 Lancet 4 Apr. 946/1 After swabbing out the throat with a swab from the throat of a case of scarlet fever an exudative tonsillitis resulted.
1907 M. H. Gordon tr. R. Abel Lab. Handbk. Bacteriol. 165 A plug of sterile wool fixed to a wooden rod or wire (i.e. a ‘swab’).
1908 Animal Managem. (War Office) 339 Keep cold swabs over the hoofs.
c. A cylindrical brush or cleaner for cleaning out the bore of a firearm; a soft brush for wetting the mould in founding.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > metalworking equipment > [noun] > casting equipment > mould > brush for wetting mould
swab1863
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > instrument for cleaning bore
moppet1512
scouring-stick1577
scourer1591
spongea1625
scouring-rod1697
sponge-staff1772
gun-brush1799
fire-swab1813
wiping-stick1817
wiper1826
washing-rod1850
sponge cloth1862
swab1863
wiping-rod1875
1863 ‘M. Twain’ Celebrated Jumping Frog (1867) 73 A sheet was wound around me until I resembled a swab for a Columbiad [cannon].
1874 tr. V. Hugo Ninety-three II. iii. i. iii. 174 He took the swab and rammer himself, loaded the piece, sighted it, and fired.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2465/2 Swab..is used..to wet the parting edge before drawing the pattern, and also to moisten parts of the mold requiring repairs.
d. A naval officer's epaulette. slang. Also †transferred, a naval officer. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > administration and ceremonial > [noun] > naval insignia
swab1793
weekly accounts1805
watch mark1860
killick1915
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > seafaring warrior or naval man > leader or commander > [noun] > naval officer
sea-officer1669
naval officer1715
swab1793
epaulette1829
swab-man1836
1793 C. Dibdin in Britannic Mag. 1 25/2 And there's never a swab but the captain knows the stem from the stern of the ship.
1798 Sporting Mag. 12 35 He makes use of no swabs (gold shoulder knots).
1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle's Log II. iv. 132 If half a dozen skippers..were to evaporate during the approaching hot months, he may have some small chance of t'other swab.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple III. iii. 47 I had shipped the swab... I'm lieutenant of the Rattlesnake.
1850 G. Cupples Green Hand i. 4/2 A fat fellow with red breeches and yallow swabs on his shoulders, like a captain of marines.
1850 H. Melville White-jacket xc. 447 Touch your tile whenever a swob (officer) speaks to you.
e. A piece of stuff that hangs loose, trails, etc.
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the world > space > relative position > support > hanging or suspension > [noun] > that which hangs or is suspended > trailingly
trailera1652
trailing1727
streamer1810
trail1844
swab1862
tangle1864
1862 G. W. Thornbury Life J. M. W. Turner II. 322 The swab of a handkerchief hanging from the side-pocket of his tail-coat.
1862 A. Trollope N. Amer. I. 300 At every hundred yards some unhappy man treads upon the silken swab which she trails behind her.
f. Oil Industry. A device in the form of a plunger with a valve, used to raise fluid in a well and induce a flow.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > oil and natural gas recovery equipment > [noun] > plunger to induce flow
swab1904
1904 Dial. Notes 2 391 Swab, n., a tool used in drilling... When water comes in faster than it can be got out by the sand-pump, the swab is run down. The fluid passes through it, and by it several hundred feet of fluid can be raised out of the hole at one run.
1916 A. B. Thompson Oil-field Devel. & Petroleum Mining x. 482 The early swab consisted of a hollow steel barrel, around which was wrapped sufficient hemp..to tightly fit the well casing when inserted.
1930 W. H. Osgood Increasing Recov. Petroleum I. x. 169 Swabbing..may result in the forming of emulsions when the swab is run too low in the fluid and water is present.
1974 P. L. Moore et al. Drilling Pract. Man. ix. 241 Swab pressures are associated with fluid flow, caused by pulling equipment out of a liquid filled bore-hole.
2. †(a) = swabber n.1 1. Obsolete. (b) A term of abuse or (now often mild) contempt: cf. swabber n.1 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > as abused
warlockOE
swinec1175
beastc1225
wolf's-fista1300
avetrolc1300
congeonc1300
dirtc1300
slimec1315
snipec1325
lurdanc1330
misbegetc1330
sorrowa1350
shrew1362
jordan1377
wirlingc1390
frog?a1400
warianglea1400
wretcha1400
horcop14..
turdc1400
callet1415
lotterela1450
paddock?a1475
souter1478
chuff?a1500
langbain?c1500
cockatrice1508
sow1508
spink1508
wilrone1508
rook?a1513
streaker?a1513
dirt-dauber?1518
marmoset1523
babiona1529
poll-hatcheta1529
bear-wolf1542
misbegotten1546
pig1546
excrement1561
mamzer1562
chuff-cat1563
varlet1566
toada1568
mandrake1568
spider1568
rat1571
bull-beef1573
mole-catcher1573
suppository1573
curtal1578
spider-catcher1579
mongrela1585
roita1585
stickdirta1585
dogfish1589
Poor John1589
dog's facec1590
tar-boxa1592
baboon1592
pot-hunter1592
venom1592
porcupine1594
lick-fingers1595
mouldychaps1595
tripe1595
conundrum1596
fat-guts1598
thornback1599
land-rat1600
midriff1600
stinkardc1600
Tartar1600
tumbril1601
lobster1602
pilcher1602
windfucker?1602
stinker1607
hog rubber1611
shad1612
splay-foot1612
tim1612
whit1612
verdugo1616
renegado1622
fish-facea1625
flea-trapa1625
hound's head1633
mulligrub1633
nightmare1633
toad's-guts1634
bitch-baby1638
shagamuffin1642
shit-breech1648
shitabed1653
snite1653
pissabed1672
bastard1675
swab1687
tar-barrel1695
runt1699
fat-face1740
shit-sack1769
vagabond1842
shick-shack1847
soor1848
b1851
stink-pot1854
molie1871
pig-dog1871
schweinhund1871
wind-sucker1880
fucker1893
cocksucker1894
wart1896
so-and-so1897
swine-hound1899
motherfucker1918
S.O.B.1918
twat1922
mong1926
mucker1929
basket1936
cowson1936
zombie1936
meatball1937
shower1943
chickenshit1945
mugger1945
motherferyer1946
hooer1952
morpion1954
mother1955
mother-raper1959
louser1960
effer1961
salaud1962
gunk1964
scunge1967
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > held in contempt > male
houndOE
churlc1300
pagec1385
jockeya1529
sincanterc1540
cullion1575
cur1600
swabber1612
codworm1615
bob-taila1625
pompilliona1625
duck's meata1627
swab1687
person1704
hallion1789
jackeen1810
peat1818
society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > sailors involved in specific duties or activities > [noun] > deck-hand > who cleans decks
swabber1592
swab1687
1687 M. Taubman London's Triumph 7 Green-men, Swabs, Satyrs, and Attendants innumerable.
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 64 Provided always, that the Swab consign him over his Wages for his Labour.
1710 C. Shadwell Fair Quaker of Deal i. i. 6 If the Government did but know what a Swabb thou art.
1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random I. iii. 15 None of your jaw, you swab.
1798 Lady Hamilton Let. to Nelson 8 Sept. I would have been rather an English powder-monkey or a swab in that great victory than an emperor out of it.
1816 W. Scott Let. May (1933) IV. 226 I have seen the great swab, who is supple as a glove.
1834 F. Marryat Jacob Faithful II. iii. 57 He said t'other day I was a drunken old swab.
1860 All Year Round 28 July 384 Look there, you swabs! Don't you see that second jib towing overboard?
1887 W. Besant World Went xxix Luke was a grass comber and a land swab.
1899 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ Some Experiences Irish R.M. 240 The men 're rather a lot of swabs, but they know the coast.
1907 ‘Q’ Poison Island vii. 60 The Mayor of Falmouth was a well-meaning old swab.
3. as adj. Lubberly.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > low or vulgar person > [adjective]
carlisha1240
lewdc1380
carlc1450
villain1483
ruffian1528
shake-ragged1550
porterlike1568
popular1583
ungracious1584
ordinarya1586
tapsterly1589
mechanic1598
round-headed1598
base-like1600
strummell-patch1600
porterly1603
scrubbing1603
vernaculous1607
plebeian1615
reptile1653
proletarian1663
mobbish1695
low1725
terraefilial1745
low-lifed1747
Whitechapel1785
lowlife1794
boweryish1846
gutter1849
bowery1852
lowish1886
swab1914
lumpen1944
1914 Blackwood's Mag. Nov. 648/2 About the swabbest lot that ever left port.
Compounds
swab-hitch n. Nautical (see quot. 1883).
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [noun] > knot used by sailors > specific
bowline-knot1627
clinch1627
sheepshank1627
wall-knot1627
running bowline1710
running bowline knot1726
bend1769
clove-hitch1769
half-hitch1769
hitch1769
walnut1769
cat's paw1794
midshipman's hitch1794
reef knot1794
clench1804
French shroud knot1808
carrick bend1819
bowline1823
slippery hitch1832
wall1834
Matthew Walker1841
shroud-knot1860
stopper-knotc1860
marling hitch1867
wind-knot1870
Portuguese knot1871
rosette1875
chain knota1877
stopper-hitch1876
swab-hitch1883
monkey fist1917
Spanish bowline1968
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > binding or tying > a bond, tie, or fastening > [noun] > knot > any knot used by sailors > other specific sailors' knots
bowline-knot1627
clinch1627
sheepshank1627
wall-knot1627
running bowline1710
running bowline knot1726
bend1769
clove-hitch1769
half-hitch1769
hitch1769
walnut1769
Magnus hitch1794
midshipman's hitch1794
clench1804
French shroud knot1808
carrick bend1819
bowline1823
slippery hitch1832
wall1834
cat's paw1840
Matthew Walker1841
shroud-knot1860
stopper-knotc1860
Portuguese knot1871
chain knota1877
stopper-hitch1876
swab-hitch1883
Spanish bowline1968
1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships Royal Navy 88 A swab-hitch..is..used for bending a rope's end to swabs when washing them overboard.
swab-hitch v. to secure with a swab-hitch.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [verb (transitive)] > attach or join by specific knot
sheepshank1769
cat's-paw1794
reef-knot1794
clove-hitch1874
swab-hitch1883
wall1883
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > binding or tying > bind or tie [verb (transitive)] > fasten or secure with a knot > specific
reef-knot1794
clove-hitch1874
swab-hitch1883
1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships Royal Navy 190 Swab-hitch it over the ring and seize the end back.
swab-man n. a naval officer wearing epaulettes.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > seafaring warrior or naval man > leader or commander > [noun] > naval officer
sea-officer1669
naval officer1715
swab1793
epaulette1829
swab-man1836
1836 E. Howard Rattlin xl A little swab~man..jumped on the..deck.
Categories »
swab-pot n. Founding ‘an iron vessel containing water and the founder's swab’ (E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. 1875).
swab-rope n. Nautical, (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [noun] > rope attached to bucket or swab
bucket-rope1627
swab-rope1867
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Swab-rope, a line bent to the eye of a swab for dipping it overboard in washing it.
swab-stick n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > wiping > [noun] > mopping or swabbing > mop or swab
swipple14..
mapplea1406
malkin1440
mop1496
makron1552
swabber1606
swab1787
swab-stick1839
file1851
squilgee1851
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 836 If the ground be very wet, and the hole gets full of mud, it is cleaned out by a stick bent at the end into a fibrous brush, called a swab-stick.
1890 J. S. Billings National Med. Dict. II Swab~stick, a rod of wood wrapped at one end with cotton, used in making applications to the uterus or vagina.
swab-tail n. a midshipman.
ΚΠ
1925 Blackwood's Mag. July 131/1 You bally swabtails have no esprit de corps.
swab-washer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing other specific things > [noun] > one who washes or wrings swabs
swab-wringer1821
swab-washer1836
1836 E. Howard Rattlin xxvii Present that piece of paper..to the head swabwasher.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. (at cited word) The principal swab-washer, or captain of the head, in large ships.
swab-wringer n. Nautical one who washes or wrings out swabs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing other specific things > [noun] > one who washes or wrings swabs
swab-wringer1821
swab-washer1836
1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 10 426 A waister, a term which is equally applicable to sweepers, swab-wringers,..and drudges of all descriptions.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
swabn.2
/swɒb/, U.S. /swɑb/ Now south-western dialect.
= swabber n.2
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > whist > [noun] > type of card
swab1681
swabber1699
long card1862
card of re-entry1870
1681 Heraclitus Ridens 1 Nov. 1/1 He has all the game in his hand, all the Trumps and Swabbers.
a1840 in C. E. Byles Life & Lett. R. S. Hawker (1905) vi. 73 Us was settin' playin' swabs (‘all fours’) up to ‘The Bush’.
1880 M. A. Courtney W. Cornwall Words in M. A. Courtney & T. Q. Couch Gloss. Words Cornwall 57/1 Swabbers, ‘I never cared for whisk since swabs went out of fashion’. Said by an old lady at Penzance about ten years since... Each player before beginning to play puts in the pool a fixed sum for swabs.
1890 J. D. Robertson Gloss. Words County of Gloucester Swabs or Swabbers, honours at whist.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
swabn.3
dialect.
A bean- or pea-shell.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > pod(s) or husk(s)
chaffc1420
swad1600
swab1659
1659 G. Torriano Florio's Vocabolario Italiano & Inglese The swab (or cod, of beanes pease, &c.), scaffa, guscio [cf. Guscio..swad].
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Swab, a Cod of Beans.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Swab, the husk of the pea; pease swabs.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
Swabn.4
/swɑːb/, /swɒb/, U.S. /swɑb/ A native or inhabitant of the German region of Swabia; = Swabian n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > native or inhabitant of Germany > [noun] > parts of
Easterling1253
Sprucier1443
Suevian1549
High German1550
Low German1550
Prussian1554
Lusatian1555
Westphalian1576
Borussian1607
Rhinelander1608
Eastman1610
Belgic1615
Franconian1615
Thuringian1618
Swab1637
spruce1640
Silesian1669
Swabian1675
palatinate1709
Hessian1729
Saxon1737
Austrasian1833
East German1838
Balt1854
West German1855
Württemberger1896
Sudeten1938
East German1947
West German1947
Saarlander1955
Ossi1989
Wessi1990
1637 T. Jackson 2nd Serm. Jer. xxvi. 19 in Diverse Serm. 44 Shee thought to have drawne sighes from the barbarous Getes, or to have wrung teares from the mercilesse Swab.
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 106 A high German (especially a Swab).
1839 Age 28 Apr. 133/3 The Land of the Swabs, scilicet Swabia.
1991 K. Gramm Clare xvi. 138 The Swabs have an irresistible tendency to add an l at the end of a word. ‘Night’ comes out sounding like ‘nightle’.
2013 G. Motta Less than Nations I. ii. iii. 200 The Swabs settled in Banat in the XVIII century, arriving from Luxemburg, Alsace and Lorraine.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
swabv.1
/swɒb/, U.S. /swɑb/ I. Senses relating to swaying motion.
1. intransitive. To sway about. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > move unsteadily [verb (intransitive)] > reel, stagger, or sway unsteadily
stackera1300
welt13..
waggera1382
swaver?a1400
blundc1400
swab14..
swabble14..
gogglec1460
reel1477
galay1489
stagger1530
swag1530
stag1561
wheel1832
swig1833
wavel1896
14.. [implied in: Promptorium Parvulorum 481/2 Swablynge, or swaggynge (A. swabbyng). (at swabble v. b)].
a1854 J. Clare MS. Poems The billows swab behind.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 320 Swob, to sway and vibrate with the wind, to wave.
1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) Swab, to sway, like boughs in the wind.
1887 T. Darlington Folk-speech S. Cheshire Swob, to sway beneath the feet; said of marshy ground.
II. Senses relating to swabbing or cleansing.† 2. ? To act like a swab or swabber; to behave in an unmannerly fashion. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > behave badly [verb (intransitive)] > behave in ill-mannered or unrefined way
to play the bear1579
lob1596
clown1600
vulgarize1605
swab1638
hoyden1709
lout1807
1638 J. Ford Fancies ii. 17 Rudenesse! Keepe off, or I shall—sawcy groome, learn manners, Goe 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 (occasionally intransitive).
ΘΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > wiping > clean by wiping [verb (transitive)] > clean with a mop or swab
swab1705
mop1755
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > wiping > clean by wiping [verb (transitive)] > clean with a mop or swab > remove (dirt) with a mop or swab
swab1705
1705 in H. Playford Wit & Mirth (new ed.) 324 All hands up aloft, Swab the Coach fore and aft.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Fauberter, to swab a ship's decks, &c.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. vi. 62 The main-deck, which they were swabbing dry.
1836 E. Howard Rattlin xliv ‘It melts me,’ responded the doctor, swabbing his face with the napkin.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast ii. 13 After we had finished, swabbed down, and coiled up the rigging, I sat down on the spars.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xvii. 163 If you only have to swab a plank, you should swab it as if Davy Jones were after you.
1854 Poultry Chron. 1 369/1 If they rattle badly in the throat, make a swab by tying a little tow on a small stick, and swab their throats out with the same mixture.
1882 Barnett in Macmillan's 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 Apr. 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.
Π
1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 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 F. Marryat Snarleyyow III. i. 17 The corporal..swabbed up the blood.
5. To souse as with a mop.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > make very wet [verb (transitive)] > as with a mop
swab1762
1762 J. Mills New Syst. Pract. Husbandry I. 155 Thus we see a smith swab and wet his coals.
6. To draw like a swab over a surface.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move or cause to move progressively in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > move lightly over or along
scum1513
shave1513
sweep1538
raze1555
grazea1616
frizzle1634
brush1647
brush1674
to brush (a thing) over1700
skim1796
skiff1807
scuff1818
skitter1885
swab1892
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 47 The plate is sloped, and the brush..is swabbed across the required portion.
7. Oil Industry. To introduce a swab (swab n.1 1f) into (an oil-well) in order to induce a flow.
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society > occupation and work > industry > drilling for oil or gas > drill for oil or gas [verb (transitive)] > other procedures
to fang a pump, (loosely) a well1819
to rack up1839
shootc1870
torpedo1873
pull1895
sidetrack1906
swab1916
stab1922
re-enter1937
rack1949
1916 A. B. Thompson Oil-field Devel. & Petroleum Mining x. 482 It was the local custom to swab wells at intervals.
1974 P. L. Moore et al. Drilling Pract. Man. ix. 245 This deceleration pressure indicates a well can be swabbed when running pipe into the hole.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1adj.1659
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