swabber

Definitions

1. One who swabs a floor or deck.
2. An instrument for swabbing.
3. A baker's implement for cleaning ovens.
4. An interior officer on British warships, responsible for seeing that the ship was kept clean.
   historical
5. Four privileged cards, formerly used in betting in whist.

Examples

“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: […]”

“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.”

“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.”

CEFR level