swabby
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈswɑbi/
- Archaic
:
marinero
- An uncommon hairy one rose up on my port beam and throws in with, 'We ain't no swabbies, we be mechanics.'
Examples
-
I take back every rust-picking, squid-hating thing I've ever said about swabbies.
-
Grow the beard you'd find on sixty percent of Pegleg's swabbies.
Fiction book (1995) -
A couple of swabbies move down to the rail near third base.
Fiction book (1992) -
When I and my oldest boy went through it, you bilged out, you became a swabby.
-
You know those swabbies.
-
Sailors are swabbies.
Fiction book (1995) -
The swabby scrubbed the deck until it shone.
-
As a swabby, he was responsible for keeping the ship clean and tidy.
-
In every great naval adventure, the swabbies are the unsung heroes of ship maintenance.
Synonyms
308
1.0
A person who works on a ship as a crew member but not an officer
59
2.8
A person who works on a ship as a crew member below the officers
8
5.7
A crew member who does physical work on a ship's deck
4
9.9
An old informal name for a sailor who works on ships
1
9.8
A sailor who cleans and cares for a ship
1
6.6
A person or tool that cleans ship decks and floors
A person who works on the deck of a ship
A sailor who works on the main deck of a ship
A person who works on a ship, often in the British navy
A sailor who works on a ship
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Swabby also became a sailor's nickname and comes from the verb swab, 'to wipe or mop', as in 'to swab the deck', so a swabby is a crew member who does cleaning chores on a ship.