Soft absorbent pads or sticks used for cleaning, applying medicine, or collecting samples; also slang for sailors.
From Dutch 'swab,' possibly related to 'swabber,' a deck-swabber on ships. The plural adds '-s.' The nautical slang originated from sailors' duty to swab ship decks.
Cotton swabs (Q-tips) were invented in 1923 by Leo Gerstenzang, but their most famous use recently is COVID-19 testing—those nasal swabs became so iconic that many people associated them with the pandemic itself.
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