What's the difference between swab and sweep?

Swab


Definition:

  • (n.) To clean with a mop or swab; to wipe when very wet, as after washing; as, to swab the desk of a ship.
  • (n.) A kind of mop for cleaning floors, the desks of vessels, etc., esp. one made of rope-yarns or threads.
  • (n.) A bit of sponge, cloth, or the like, fastened to a handle, for cleansing the mouth of a sick person, applying medicaments to deep-seated parts, etc.
  • (n.) An epaulet.
  • (n.) A cod, or pod, as of beans or pease.
  • (n.) A sponge, or other suitable substance, attached to a long rod or handle, for cleaning the bore of a firearm.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) A throat swab from one patient grew group A, beta haemolytic streptococci, and in each case unequivocal evidence of seroreaction to streptococcal antigens was present.
  • (2) The relationship between technique of obtaining Papanicolaou smears, presence of endocervical cells, and rate of cervical neoplasia was studied by comparing an endocervical and ectocervical nylon brush (Bayne brush), Ayre spatula plus endocervical brush, and spatula plus cotton-tipped swab in a randomized, prospective trial involving 11,061 patients.
  • (3) It should also be realised that, in a very few hospitals, swabs which do not have an opaque marker may occasionally be used in theatre.
  • (4) In 1961 three rectal swabs were taken to detect carriers; this was increased to 5 in 1962 and now 7 consecutive daily swabs are considered necessary.
  • (5) The RSV EIA was also used to test 137 nasal swabs obtained from cases of bovine respiratory disease.
  • (6) One hundred and thirty-two penial-preputial swabbings, 140 raw and 42 processed semen samples were cultured for mycoplasmas.
  • (7) Intranuclear inclusion bodies and virus particles were found in hepatocytes, and herpes virus was isolated from a liver biopsy and from oral swabs but not from blood.
  • (8) The results of numerous microbiological investigations of sputa, nose and throat swabs before and during the long-term study are interpreted under certain aspects and questioning.
  • (9) The DNA fragment was amplified by PCR in all specimens of urine sediments from 50 patients with Chlamydiazyme-positive urethral swab.
  • (10) At the conclusion of 817 abdominal operations, duplicate swabs were taken from the subcutaneous tissues for microbiological examination; one swab was transported to the laboratory in Stuart's thioglycollate medium and the other immediately incubated in Robertson's cooked meat broth.
  • (11) In a preliminary study of the transmission rate of Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma species, Gardnerella vaginalis, B-Streptococci, Candida species and Chlamydia trachomatis from the mother to the newborn, swabs were taken from 45 parturients and their neonates and cultured by suitable methods.
  • (12) Our semiquantitative methods for the culture of H. influenzae type b, consisting of inoculation of 0.001 ml of throat swab fluid on antiserum agar plates and division of the results into three grades of intensity, showed agreement as to intensity of colonization in over 80% of repeat throat cultures.
  • (13) Duplicate high vaginal swabs were obtained from 200 parturient women at Abeokuta (Nigeria).
  • (14) Five hundred and thirty one samples of pharingeal swabs were obtained from children with ARI.
  • (15) It may be feasible to use the direct fluorometric test in a diagnostic laboratory as described or possibly to adapt it for automatic processing of throat swab cultures.
  • (16) Also we cannot take DNA swabs against the suspect's will."
  • (17) One hundred positive isolations were made from 387 rectal swab specimens; 86 were obtained in human kidney cultures.
  • (18) The strains of adenovirus were isolated from pharyngeal swabs, kidney cell cultures and stool of tupaias.
  • (19) Our results clearly demonstrate that pernasal swabs give a representative picture of the adenoid bacterial content.
  • (20) Quantitative wound swab cultures depend on a thorough sampling of the wound and an efficient recovery of bacteria from the swab.

Sweep


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To pass a broom across (a surface) so as to remove loose dirt, dust, etc.; to brush, or rub over, with a broom for the purpose of cleaning; as, to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney. Used also figuratively.
  • (v. i.) To drive or carry along or off with a broom or a brush, or as if with a broom; to remove by, or as if by, brushing; as, to sweep dirt from a floor; the wind sweeps the snow from the hills; a freshet sweeps away a dam, timber, or rubbish; a pestilence sweeps off multitudes.
  • (v. i.) To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.
  • (v. i.) To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence, to carry in a stately or proud fashion.
  • (v. i.) To strike with a long stroke.
  • (v. i.) To draw or drag something over; as, to sweep the bottom of a river with a net.
  • (v. i.) To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation; as, to sweep the heavens with a telescope.
  • (v. i.) To clean rooms, yards, etc., or to clear away dust, dirt, litter, etc., with a broom, brush, or the like.
  • (v. i.) To brush swiftly over the surface of anything; to pass with switness and force, as if brushing the surface of anything; to move in a stately manner; as, the wind sweeps across the plain; a woman sweeps through a drawing-room.
  • (v. i.) To pass over anything comprehensively; to range through with rapidity; as, his eye sweeps through space.
  • (n.) The act of sweeping.
  • (n.) The compass or range of a stroke; as, a long sweep.
  • (n.) The compass of any turning body or of any motion; as, the sweep of a door; the sweep of the eye.
  • (n.) The compass of anything flowing or brushing; as, the flood carried away everything within its sweep.
  • (n.) Violent and general destruction; as, the sweep of an epidemic disease.
  • (n.) Direction and extent of any motion not rectlinear; as, the sweep of a compass.
  • (n.) Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, or the like, away from a rectlinear line.
  • (n.) One who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, a chimney sweeper.
  • (n.) A movable templet for making molds, in loam molding.
  • (n.) The mold of a ship when she begins to curve in at the rungheads; any part of a ship shaped in a segment of a circle.
  • (n.) A large oar used in small vessels, partly to propel them and partly to steer them.
  • (n.) The almond furnace.
  • (n.) A long pole, or piece of timber, moved on a horizontal fulcrum fixed to a tall post and used to raise and lower a bucket in a well for drawing water.
  • (n.) In the game of casino, a pairing or combining of all the cards on the board, and so removing them all; in whist, the winning of all the tricks (thirteen) in a hand; a slam.
  • (n.) The sweeping of workshops where precious metals are worked, containing filings, etc.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Now, as the Senate takes up a weakened House bill along with the House's strengthened backdoor-proof amendment, it's time to put focus back on sweeping reform.
  • (2) One man has died in storms sweeping across the UK that have brought 100-mile-an-hour winds and led to more than 50 flood warnings being issued with widespread disruption on the road and rail networks in much of southern England and Scotland.
  • (3) That’s a criticism echoed by Democrats in the Senate, who issued a report earlier this month criticising Republicans for passing sweeping legislation in July to combat addiction , the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (Cara), but refusing to fund it.
  • (4) he asked in a low voice, referring to the Sunni insurgents sweeping across northern Iraq .
  • (5) The Florida senator on Wednesday signed on to legislation that would delay the implementation of the sweeping surveillance reforms passed by Congress under the USA Freedom Act.
  • (6) The building blocks were laid out in a sweeping document presented by Van Rompuy and colleagues earlier this week that included sharing debt in the form of jointly issued eurobonds.
  • (7) For once, however, Beckham's timing was out, and his tenure has seen the club win nothing, and a new regime led by austere Italian Fabio Capello sweep away the superstar culture.
  • (8) Behind the broad sweep of pessimism, it is worth thinking about how the "eurozone in crisis" story could eventually improve.
  • (9) As fighter jets screamed overhead and tanks churned up the sand, it looked and sounded like the violent protests sweeping the Middle East had spread to the wealthy emirate of Abu Dhabi.
  • (10) Compulsory national testing for four- and five-year-olds in England from 2016 is to be introduced as part of sweeping changes being proposed to early years and primary education.
  • (11) In addition, the sine-sweep responses show quite different frequency characteristics in respect of depolarization and repolarization.
  • (12) The sweeping proposals are a sizeable step up in scale and urgency for a mayor who has for years emphasised the threat climate change poses to the city, which has 520 miles of coastline.
  • (13) Blinded by a series of sweeping victories, he forgot that the public saw in him not only stability, but also a hope for decentralisation and redistribution of power.
  • (14) In post-spike averages of 1000-10,000 sweeps, no evidence of reflex excitation of the homonymous motoneurone pool was detected.
  • (15) In 11 cases, barium examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract revealed prominent filling defects in the duodenal bulb and the duodenal sweep.
  • (16) Tom Tobler, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "Gusts of 50mph to 60mph are sweeping across south-west England, central England and Wales, which will see the worst of the windy weather.
  • (17) Three US senators announced bills on Thursday that proposed the most sweeping structural changes to the secret court that oversees the legal basis for surveillance activities since it was set up 35 years ago.
  • (18) A "sweep" bend was incorporated to avoid unwanted side effects at the second premolar.
  • (19) However, the military remains unable to shift Isis from its strongholds or reverse the gains the group made during a stunning sweep through Mosul and Tikrit that continues to pose a grave threat to Iraq's borders.
  • (20) She may have her own reasons, but if this view takes hold, it will have sweeping implications.