Meanings
pap smear1
plural pap smears
- Alternative letter-case form of Pap smear.
An “urban myth” that lesbian women do not need pap smears because they do not have sex with men means they are putting their health at risk, a study from the University of Sydney has found.
2016 January 22, Melissa Davey, “'Urban myth' that lesbian women don't need pap smears is a health risk – study”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Feb 2023
Pap smear2
plural Pap smears · alternative pap smear
- gynaecologySynonym of Pap test.
She felt vulnerable, like sheʼd just gotten her first Pap smear and didnʼt know how invasive it would feel.
2021, Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl, Bloomsbury, page 344Synonyms: Pap test, cervical smear, Pap, pap, pap test, Pap test, smear test
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of Pap test.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna sample of secretions and superficial cells of the uterine cervix and uterus; examined with a microscope to detect any abnormal cells
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From Papanikolaou + smear. Named after the Greek-American physician Georgios Papanikolaou.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan frotis de Papanicolau
- frotis de Papanicolaugynaecology: screening test
Chinese Mandarin 子宮頸塗片檢查 /子宫颈涂片检查
- 子宮頸塗片檢查 /子宫颈涂片检查 (zǐgōngjǐng túpiàn jiǎnchá)gynaecology: screening test
Dutch uitstrijkje
- uitstrijkjegynaecology: screening test
Finnish papakoe
- papakoegynaecology: screening test
French frottis
- frottisgynaecology: screening test
German Pap-Abstrich
- Pap-Abstrichgynaecology: screening test
Italian striscio
- strisciogynaecology: screening test
Japanese パップテスト
- パップテスト (pappu tesuto)gynaecology: screening test
Russian мазо́к Папаникола́у
- мазо́к Папаникола́у (mazók Papanikoláu)gynaecology: screening test
Spanish prueba de Papanicolau, papanicolau
- prueba de Papanicolaugynaecology: screening test
- papanicolaugynaecology: screening test
- frotis vaginalgynaecology: screening test
Swedish gynekologiskt cellprov, papaprov
- gynekologiskt cellprovgynaecology: screening test
- papaprovgynaecology: screening test
Cite this entry
pap smear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pap%20smear
“pap smear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pap%20smear. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pap smear,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pap%20smear.
Source: pap smear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.