Q-tip

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

American genericization from the brand name coined (and registered as the trademark "Q-TIPS") by Unilever; see tip. Q stands for quality.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

Q-tip (plural Q-tips)

  1. A cotton swab consisting of short, thin, flexible plastic rods with a swab of cotton/cotton wool at each end; they are typically used for cleaning the ears and other hard-to-reach places.

Verb

Q-tip (third-person singular simple present Q-tips, present participle Q-tipping, simple past and past participle Q-tipped)

  1. To clean with a Q-tip.
    • 2013, Margaret Atwood, MaddAddam, Bloomsbury, page 310:
      He disposed of his black outfit, doomed to incineration, and took a quick antimicrobial-enhanced shower […] lathering his face, sanctifying his pits, and Q-tipping his pointy ears.

Synonyms

Translations

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.