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Swag vs Swab - What's the difference?

swag | swab |

As nouns the difference between swag and swab

is that swag is scientific/speculative/sophisticated/stupid wild-ass or swag can be while swab is (medicine) a small piece of soft, absorbent material, such as gauze, used to clean wounds, apply medicine, or take samples of body fluids often attached to a stick or wire to aid access.

As a verb swab is

to use a swab on something, or clean something with a swab.

swag

English

Etymology 1

Probably from (etyl)

Verb

(swagg)
  • (intransitive, and, transitive) To sway; to cause to sway.
  • To droop; to sag.
  • * Palsgrave
    • I swag' as a fat person's belly ' swaggeth as he goeth.
  • To decorate (something) with loops of draped fabric.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2009, date=January 29, author=Cathy Horyn, title=In Paris, a Nod to Old Masters, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=Dior wouldn’t be Dior without the swagged ball gown

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A loop of draped fabric.
  • * 2005 , , Bloomsbury Publishing, page 438:
    • He looked in bewilderment at number 24, the final house with its regalia of stucco swags and bows.
  • A low point or depression in land; especially , a place where water collects.
  • * 1902', D. G. Simmons, "The Influence of Contaminated Water in the Development of Diseases", ''The American Practitioner and News'', ' 34 : 182.
    • Whenever the muddy water would accumulate in the swag' the water from the well in question would become muddy After the water in the ' swag had all disappeared through the sink-hole the well water would again become clear.

    Derived terms

    * (l)

    Etymology 2

    (swagger).

    Noun

    (-)
  • (slang) Style; fashionable appearance or manner.
  • * 2009 , Mark Anthony Archer, Exile , page 119
    • Now this dude got swag , and he was pushing up on me but, it wasn't like we was kicking it or anything!”

    Etymology 3

    From British thieves? slang.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable) The booty of a burglar or thief; a boodle.
  • * 1838 , :
    • “It?s all arranged about bringing off the swag , is it?” asked the Jew. Sikes nodded.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
    • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘ […] They tell me there was a recognized swag market down here.’}}
  • * 1971 November 22, Frank E. Emerson, “They Can Get It For You BETTER Than Wholesale”, New York Magazine , page 38
    • He was on his way to call on other dealers to check out their swag and to see if he could trade away some of his leftover odds and ends.
  • (uncountable) Handouts, freebies, or giveaways, such as those handed out at conventions.
  • * 2011 , Mark Henry, Battle of the Network Zombies
    • “Make sure to take some swag on your way out!” I called.
    He stooped a bit in mid-trot and snatched a small gold bag out of the basket at the door. The contents were mostly shit, a few drink tickets to the Well of Souls, VIP status at Convent, that sort of thing.
  • (countable, Australia, dated) The possessions of a bushman or itinerant worker, tied up in a blanket and carried over the shoulder, sometimes attached to a stick.
  • (countable, Australia, by extension) A small single-person tent, usually foldable in to an integral backpack.
  • (countable, Australia, New Zealand) A large quantity (of something).
  • * 2010 August 31, " Hockey: Black Sticks lose World Cup opener]", [[w:The New Zealand Herald, The New Zealand Herald] :
    • New Zealand wasted a swag of chances to lose their opening women?s hockey World Cup match.
    Derived terms
    * swaggie * swagman

    Verb

  • (Australia) To travel on foot carrying a swag (possessions tied in a blanket).
  • * 1880 , James Coutts Crawford, Recollections of Travel in New Zealand and Australia , page 259,
    • He told me that times had been bad at Invercargill, and that he had started for fresh pastures, had worked his passage up as mate in a small craft from the south, and, arriving in Port Underwood, had swagged his calico tent over the hill, and was now living in it, pitched in the manuka scrub.
  • * 1976 , Pembroke Arts Club, The Anglo-Welsh Review , page 158,
    • That such a man was swagging in the Victoria Bush at the age of fifty-one requires explanation.
  • * 2006 , , Issue 23, page 3,
    • The plot is straightforward. A swagman is settling down by a billabong after a hard day?s swagging .
  • * 2011 , Penelope Debelle, Red Silk: The Life of Elliott Johnston QC , page 21,
    • Over the Christmas of 1939, just three months after Britain and Australia had declared war on Germany, they went swagging together for a week and slept out under the stars in the Adelaide Hills, talking, walking and reading.
    Derived terms
    * swag it

    Etymology 4

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • ; a wild guess or ballpark estimate.
    • I can take a swag at the answer, but it may not be right.

    Anagrams

    *

    swab

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (medicine) a small piece of soft, absorbent material, such as gauze, used to clean wounds, apply medicine, or take samples of body fluids. Often attached to a stick or wire to aid access.
  • A sample taken with a swab (1).
  • A piece of material used for cleaning or sampling other items like musical instruments or guns.
  • A mop, especially on a ship.
  • (slang) A sailor; a swabby.

    • Synonyms

    * (sailor) swabby

    Verb

    (swabb)
  • To use a swab on something, or clean something with a swab.
  • * , chapter=6
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.}}