swabbies

noun

plural of swabbie, slang
as in sailors
one who operates or navigates a seagoing vessel the pirate captain cried, "Ahoy, me swabbies, 'tis time to hoist the Jolly Roger!"

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for swabbies
  1. sailors
  2. mariners
Noun
  • Two American sailors and their two dogs were rescued after five months at sea in the Pacific in 2017.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026
  • The system is designed to help the Navy detect, locate, and classify underwater mines remotely, allowing sailors to conduct mine countermeasure (MCM) operations from safer stand-off distances.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of sailors
Noun
  • Russian drones have struck at least a dozen merchant ships in the Black Sea in recent weeks – killing more mariners than have died during the Iran war.
    — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2026
  • He is venerated as a patron saint of sailors, mariners, travelers, and whales.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of mariners
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

swabbie
swabbies
swabbing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Swabbies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swabbies. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of quondam

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All