sweep
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: swēp
ipa: /swiːp/
ipa: /swip/
rhymes: -iːp
Forms: form: sweeps
form: sweeping
form: swept
form: swept
Etymology: From Middle English swepen, from Proto-West Germanic *swaipijan (unattested in Old English), from Proto-Germanic *swaipijaną. Cognate with Early Modern West Frisian swiepe (“whip, cleanse, sweep”), from Old Frisian swēpa, suepa (“sweep”). More distantly related to Old Norse sveipa (whence Swedish svepa). See also swoop.
Senses: examples: text: to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney
text: I will sweep it with the besom of destruction.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 14:23:
glosses: To clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush.
examples: text: The wind sweeps across the plain.
text: The offended countess swept out of the ballroom.
text: [H]as the course of the argument so accustomed you to agreeing that you were swept by it into a ready assent?
ref: 2005, Lesley Brown, Sophist, translation of original by Plato, page 236d:
synonyms: swing
glosses: To move through a (horizontal) arc or similar long stroke.
glosses: To search (a place) methodically.
examples: text: Drifting thus, we made fast time down the bank through Cove Bay, and at 72 m.p.h. came sweeping round the curve past Girdleness light house, and so to the first sight of Aberdeen itself.
ref: 1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 9:
text: Everton took that disputed lead in a moment that caused anger to sweep around the Emirates.
ref: 2011 February 1, Phil McNulty, “Arsenal 2-1 Everton”, in BBC:
glosses: To travel quickly.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To play a sweep shot.
topics: ball-games
curling
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To brush the ice in front of a moving stone, causing it to travel farther and to curl less.
glosses: To move something in a long sweeping motion, as a broom.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To win (a series) without drawing or losing any of the games in that series.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To defeat (a team) in a series without drawing or losing any of the games in that series.
examples: text: The channel was swept twice before the battlefleet proceeded through it.
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: To clear (a body of water or part thereof) of mines.
examples: text: She swept the peelings off the table onto the floor.
text: The wind sweeps the snow from the hills.
text: The flooded river swept away the wooden dam.
text: In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.
ref: 2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6:
glosses: To remove something abruptly and thoroughly.
examples: text: Their long descending train, / With rubies edg'd and sapphires, swept the plain.
ref: 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
text: Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […] Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.
ref: 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
glosses: To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.
examples: text: And like a peacock sweep along his tail.
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
glosses: To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence, to carry in a stately or proud fashion.
examples: text: Deſcend ye nine! deſcend and ſing; / The breathing inſtruments inſpire, / VVake into voice each ſilent ſtring, / And ſvveep the ſounding lyre!
ref: 1687 (date written), Alexander Pope, “Ode for Musick on St. Cecilia’s Day”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], →OCLC, canto I, page 371:
glosses: To strike with a long stroke.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
rowing
sports
glosses: To row with one oar to either the port or starboard side.
examples: text: to sweep the bottom of a river with a net
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To draw or drag something over.
examples: text: to sweep the heavens with a telescope
text: O5-8 does an impressive job of controlling himself, keeping his attention focused on Marion. Clay doesn't fare so well, and quickly sweeps the whole room, even checking behind his back. Making an ass of himself, essentially. He finds nothing. He looks baffled.
ref: 2008–2021, qntm, “We Need To Talk About Fifty-Five”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 13:
glosses: To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation.
qualifier: Ohio; Indiana; Ohio; Indiana
glosses: To vacuum a carpet or rug.
Derived terms: asweep
downsweep
new brooms sweep clean
sweep across
sweep along
sweep aside
sweep away
sweep-chimney
sweeper
sweep in
sweep out
sweep someone off their feet
sweep something under the carpet
sweep something under the rug
sweep the board
sweep the deck
sweep the floor with someone
sweep up
sweepy
upsweep