[syn: swing, sweep, swing out]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Sweep \Sweep\, n.
1. The act of sweeping.
[1913 Webster]
2. The compass or range of a stroke; as, a long sweep.
[1913 Webster]
3. The compass of any turning body or of any motion; as, the
sweep of a door; the sweep of the eye.
[1913 Webster]
4. The compass of anything flowing or brushing; as, the flood
carried away everything within its sweep.
[1913 Webster]
5. Violent and general destruction; as, the sweep of an
epidemic disease.
[1913 Webster]
6. Direction and extent of any motion not rectlinear; as, the
sweep of a compass.
[1913 Webster]
7. Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, or the
like, away from a rectlinear line.
[1913 Webster]
The road which makes a small sweep. --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
8. One who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, a chimney
sweeper.
[1913 Webster]
9. (Founding) A movable templet for making molds, in loam
molding.
[1913 Webster]
10. (Naut.)
(a) The mold of a ship when she begins to curve in at the
rungheads; any part of a ship shaped in a segment of
a circle.
(b) A large oar used in small vessels, partly to propel
them and partly to steer them.
[1913 Webster]
11. (Refining) The almond furnace. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
12. A long pole, or piece of timber, moved on a horizontal
fulcrum fixed to a tall post and used to raise and lower
a bucket in a well for drawing water. [Variously written
swape, sweep, swepe, and swipe.]
[1913 Webster]
13. (Card Playing) In the game of casino, a pairing or
combining of all the cards on the board, and so removing
them all; in whist, the winning of all the tricks
(thirteen) in a hand; a slam.
[1913 Webster]
14. pl. The sweeping of workshops where precious metals are
worked, containing filings, etc.
[1913 Webster]
Sweep net, a net for drawing over a large compass.
Sweep of the tiller (Naut.), a circular frame on which the
tiller traverses.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Sweep \Sweep\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swept; p. pr. & vb. n.
Sweeping.] [OE. swepen; akin to AS. sw[=a]pan. See Swoop,
v. i.]
1. To pass a broom across (a surface) so as to remove loose
dirt, dust, etc.; to brush, or rub over, with a broom for
the purpose of cleaning; as, to sweep a floor, the street,
or a chimney. Used also figuratively.
[1913 Webster]
I will sweep it with the besom of destruction.
--Isa. xiv.
23.
[1913 Webster]
2. To drive or carry along or off with a broom or a brush, or
as if with a broom; to remove by, or as if by, brushing;
as, to sweep dirt from a floor; the wind sweeps the snow
from the hills; a freshet sweeps away a dam, timber, or
rubbish; a pestilence sweeps off multitudes.
[1913 Webster]
The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies. --Isa.
xxviii. 17.
[1913 Webster]
I have already swept the stakes. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
3. To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.
[1913 Webster]
Their long descending train,
With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain.
--Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
4. To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence,
to carry in a stately or proud fashion.
[1913 Webster]
And like a peacock sweep along his tail. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
5. To strike with a long stroke.
[1913 Webster]
Wake into voice each silent string,
And sweep the sounding lyre. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Naut.) To draw or drag something over; as, to sweep the
bottom of a river with a net.
[1913 Webster]
7. To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an
instrument of observation; as, to sweep the heavens with a
telescope.
[1913 Webster]
To sweep a mold or To sweep up a mold (Founding), to form
the sand into a mold by a templet, instead of compressing
it around the pattern.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Sweep \Sweep\, v. i.
1. To clean rooms, yards, etc., or to clear away dust, dirt,
litter, etc., with a broom, brush, or the like.
[1913 Webster]
2. To brush swiftly over the surface of anything; to pass
with switness and force, as if brushing the surface of
anything; to move in a stately manner; as, the wind sweeps
across the plain; a woman sweeps through a drawing-room.
[1913 Webster]
3. To pass over anything comprehensively; to range through
with rapidity; as, his eye sweeps through space.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
sweep
n 1: a wide scope; "the sweep of the plains" [syn: sweep,
expanse]
2: someone who cleans soot from chimneys [syn: chimneysweeper,
chimneysweep, sweep]
3: winning all or all but one of the tricks in bridge [syn:
slam, sweep]
4: a long oar used in an open boat [syn: sweep, sweep oar]
5: (American football) an attempt to advance the ball by running
around the end of the line [syn: end run, sweep]
6: a movement in an arc; "a sweep of his arm"
v 1: sweep across or over; "Her long skirt brushed the floor";
"A gasp swept cross the audience" [syn: brush, sweep]
2: move with sweeping, effortless, gliding motions; "The diva
swept into the room"; "Shreds of paper sailed through the
air"; "The searchlights swept across the sky" [syn: sweep,
sail]
3: sweep with a broom or as if with a broom; "Sweep the crumbs
off the table"; "Sweep under the bed" [syn: sweep, broom]
4: force into some kind of situation, condition, or course of
action; "They were swept up by the events"; "don't drag me
into this business" [syn: embroil, tangle, sweep,
sweep up, drag, drag in]
5: to cover or extend over an area or time period; "Rivers
traverse the valley floor", "The parking lot spans 3 acres";
"The novel spans three centuries" [syn: cross, traverse,
span, sweep]
6: clean by sweeping; "Please sweep the floor"
7: win an overwhelming victory in or on; "Her new show dog swept
all championships"
8: cover the entire range of
9: make a big sweeping gesture or movement [syn: swing,
sweep, swing out]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
435 Moby Thesaurus words for "sweep":
Derby, Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, S-curve, aberrancy,
aberration, advance, airscape, ambit, arc, arch, ball the jack,
barrel, be effortless, be painless, bend, bend back, bending, bias,
bingo, boom, bow, bowing, bowl, bowl along, branching off, breeze,
breeze along, broom, brush, brush by, brush off, bunt, butt, carry,
cascade, cataract, chase, chimney sweep, circle, circuitousness,
cityscape, class lottery, clean, cleanser, clear, clear sight,
clearance, clip, cloudscape, coast, coasting, color vision,
compass, cone vision, conflexure, corner, course, cover, crook,
crossing sweeper, curl, curvature, curve, cut along, dash,
day vision, daylight vision, declination, decurve, deflect,
deflection, deluge, demolish, departure, depredate, despoil,
destroy, detour, deviance, deviancy, deviation, deviousness,
diapason, digression, discernment, discursion, divagation,
divarication, divergence, diversion, do, dogleg, dome, double,
draft lottery, drawing, drift, drifting, drive, embow, encompass,
engulf, environ, errantry, excursion, excursus, exorbitation,
extend, extension, extent, eye, eye-mindedness, eyesight, farsight,
farsightedness, field of view, field of vision, flat race,
flection, fleece, fleet, flex, flexure, flit, flood, flounce, flow,
flowing, flue cleaner, fly, fly low, foot, forage, foray, forward,
freeboot, gamut, geanticline, geosyncline, give no trouble, glance,
glide, gliding, glissade, go, go easily, go fast,
go like clockwork, go out, go over, grab bag, graze, gut, hairpin,
hairpin turn, handicap, handicap race, harness race, highball,
hold, home on, hook, horizon, horse race, hump, hunch, hurdle race,
ice-skate, identify, impel, incurvate, incurve, indirection,
inflect, inflection, interest lottery, inundate, keen sight, ken,
keno, kiss, landscape, lie, lookout, loop, loot, lottery, lotto,
make knots, map, maraud, march, meander, measure, move,
night vision, nip, number lottery, numbers pool, oar, obliquity,
orbit, outlook, outstrip the wind, overbrim, overflow, overpass,
overrun, overwhelm, oxbow, paddle, panorama, parade, pass,
pass over, pass through, patrol, pedal, perambulate, perception,
peregrinate, pererrate, pererration, peripheral field,
peripheral vision, perspective, perspicacity, perspicuity,
photopia, pick up, pillage, pinpoint, plate race, plunder, ply,
pole, pour it on, pour out, pour over, power of sight,
present no difficulties, prey on, propel, prospect, purge,
purse race, purview, push, quarter-horse race, quick sight, radius,
raffle, raid, rambling, range, range over, ransack, ravage, raven,
ravish, reach, reach out, receive, reconnoiter, recurve, reflect,
reflection, reflex, register, reive, remove, retroflex, rifle, rip,
riverscape, rod vision, roll, roller-skate, round, row, run,
run over, run smoothly, sack, sag, sail, sailing, scale, scan,
scape, scavenger, scene, scenery, scenic view, scope, scorch,
scotopia, scour, scour the country, scout, scrape, scull, seascape,
seeing, sense of sight, sheer, shift, shifting, shifting course,
shifting path, shove, shunt, sideslip, sight, sightedness, sizzle,
skate, skateboard, skating, skew, ski, skid, skiing, skim,
skyscape, slant, sled, sledding, sleigh, slide, sliding, slip,
slipping, slither, slithering, slop, slosh, span, spectrum, speed,
spill, spill out, spill over, spoil, spoliate, spot, spread, stake,
stake race, steeplechase, steering oar, storm along, straddle,
straying, street sweeper, stretch, stretch out, stroke, submerge,
surround, swag, swamp, sweep along, sweep away, sweep out,
sweep up, sweeper, sweeping, sweepstake, sweepstakes, swerve,
swerving, swing, swinging, swoop, tack, take in, tear, tear along,
thrust, thrust out, thunder along, tidy up, toboggan, tobogganing,
tombola, tontine, touch lightly, touch upon, townscape, track,
transit, travel over, travel through, traverse, treadle, trigger,
troll, trotting race, trundle, tune in, turn, turning,
twilight vision, twist, unobstructed vision, vacuum, vacuum-clean,
variation, vault, veer, view, vision, vista, visual acuity,
visual field, visual sense, voyage, wandering, warp, waterscape,
whelm, whisk, whitewing, whiz, wind, wing, wipe out, work well,
yaw, zigzag, zing, zip, zoom