brush vs swab

brush

verb
  • To clean one's teeth by brushing them. 

  • To clean with a brush. 

  • To touch with a sweeping motion, or lightly in passing. 

  • To untangle or arrange with a brush. 

  • To apply with a brush. 

  • To remove with a sweeping motion. 

noun
  • An instrument, resembling a brush, used to produce a soft sound from drums or cymbals. 

  • An on-screen tool for "painting" a particular colour or texture. 

  • A set of defined design and parameters that produce drawn strokes of a certain texture and quality. 

  • A tuft of hair on the mandibles. 

  • Evergreen boughs, especially balsam, locally cut and baled for export, usually for use in making wreaths. 

  • In 3D video games, a convex polyhedron, especially one that defines structure of the play area. 

  • The floorperson of a poker room, usually in a casino. 

  • A short and sometimes occasional encounter or experience. 

  • A piece of conductive material, usually carbon, serving to maintain electrical contact between the stationary and rotating parts of a machine. 

  • An implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes including cleaning, painting, and arranging hair. 

  • The act of brushing something. 

  • Wild vegetation, generally larger than grass but smaller than trees. See shrubland. 

  • The furry tail of an animal, especially of a fox. 

  • A brush-like electrical discharge of sparks. 

swab

verb
  • To use a swab on something, or clean something with a swab. 

noun
  • A sailor; a swabby. 

  • A naval officer's epaulet. 

  • 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 mop, especially on a ship. 

  • A piece of material used for cleaning or sampling other items like musical instruments or guns. 

  • A sample taken with a swab (piece of absorbent material). 

How often have the words brush and swab occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )