Tom Hanks

There's this misconception that the Navy is this cruise ship, and you get to go out and sail around, and every now and then, you have to swab the deck. But, no, it is a very impressive group of young people that live at sea, in this place that's very uncomfortable. They exude a pride that is well-deserved.

American Actor

Richa Pallod

When you are cleaning, sweeping, swabbing floors and running around for the littlest of things on a shoot for an ad or a documentary, you realize how tough life is behind the camera.

Indian Model

Mandy Moore

I'm a germ-phobe when I meet a lot of people or shake a lot of hands. I always have hand sanitizer and alcohol swabs so I can sort of go back and forth between the two.

American Musician

Used primarily in medical settings to collect samples or apply treatments.

Medical Context

Although commonly used, medical advice suggests not using swabs to clean ears.

Not for Ears

Swabs are often disposable and should be discarded after one use to prevent contamination.

Disposable Item

Swabbing is a soft, gentle action when applying medicine or cleaning a wound.

Gentle Cleaning

Swabbing can be used in various non-medical contexts such as cleaning surfaces.

Not Just Medical

In maritime contexts, 'swab' refers to a mop, especially on a ship's deck.

Nautical Origin

Swabbing the deck implies physical labor and can be used metaphorically for hard work.

Physical Task

 What's the future of the body, of beauty? If we change the body, will we have new kinds of awareness? And will new kinds of awareness of the microbial world change the way that we eat? The last chapter of my dissertation was all about cheese that I made using bacteria that I swabbed from in between my toes.

What happens when...

 world to solve the riddle of who we are and how we are all related to each other. So far more than half a million people have participated, and you can too. Your Genographic kit explains it all and it also comes with a little brush called a swab. All you need to do is brush the inside your mouth.

Beyond Genealogy PIPE...

 Those patients turn to donor registries of volunteers willing to offer their bone marrow. All it takes to be on the registry is a cheek swab to test for a genetic match. And in many cases, the donation itself isn’t much more complicated than giving blood. It’s a way to save someone’s life

How bones make blood -...

 Two weeks may be just enough time for infection to spread and take away your way of life. But it doesn't have to be that way. Today, farmers can take those samples themselves. They can jump right into the pen and swab their pigs' noses and mouths with a little filter paper,

The era of personal DNA...

 that you had to have a nurse or doctor shove a swab way up, all the way to the back of your throat, which hurts a lot, but also, you're going to cough and potentially spread the disease to that health care worker. So they have to have protective equipment and change that.

How we must respond to...

 as the mouth swabs arrived lions will eliminate areas from the globe and hone in on the geographic site of feline domestication with a good sampling of cats from all over the world we'll have a very comprehensive study on cat

Cat Clues PIPE National...

 But the DNA evidence was so consistent precisely because it was wrong. It turned out that the cotton swabs used to collect the DNA samples had all been accidentally contaminated by a woman working in the swab factory.

Should you trust...

 So many elect to go through this hours-long rape kit process that requires every inch and orifice of a victim's body to be combed, swabbed and photographed.

What happened when we...

 on the riverbank on the outskirts of the city I met environmental campaigner Rakesh Jai swab

Toxic Waste in the...

 rocks just a possibility of what's hiding in there just covered in swabs juice