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.
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   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.
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            The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies. --Isa.
                                                  xxviii. 17.
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            I have already swept the stakes.      --Dryden.
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   3. To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.
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            Their long descending train,
            With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   4. To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence,
      to carry in a stately or proud fashion.
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            And like a peacock sweep along his tail. --Shak.
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   5. To strike with a long stroke.
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            Wake into voice each silent string,
            And sweep the sounding lyre.          --Pope.
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   6. (Naut.) To draw or drag something over; as, to sweep the
      bottom of a river with a net.
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   7. To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an
      instrument of observation; as, to sweep the heavens with a
      telescope.
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   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.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sweeping \Sweep"ing\, a.
   Cleaning off surfaces, or cleaning away dust, dirt, or
   litter, as a broom does; moving with swiftness and force;
   carrying everything before it; including in its scope many
   persons or things; as, a sweeping flood; a sweeping majority;
   a sweeping accusation. -- Sweep"ing*ly, adv.
   -Sweep"ing*ness, n.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

sweeping
    adj 1: taking in or moving over (or as if over) a wide area;
           often used in combination; "a sweeping glance"; "a wide-
           sweeping view of the river"
    2: ignoring distinctions; "sweeping generalizations"; "wholesale
       destruction" [syn: sweeping, wholesale]
    n 1: the act of cleaning with a broom

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

163 Moby Thesaurus words for "sweeping":
   absolute, across the board, across-the-board, aleatoric, aleatory,
   all-comprehensive, all-embracing, all-encompassing, all-inclusive,
   all-out, all-pervading, amorphous, blanket, blobby, blurred,
   blurry, born, broad, broad-based, cataclysmic, catastrophic,
   catholic, chance, chancy, chaotic, clean, clear, coasting,
   compendious, complete, comprehensive, confused, congenital,
   consummate, debris, decisive, deep-dyed, diffuse, disordered,
   downright, dust, dyed-in-the-wool, egregious, encyclopedic,
   exhaustive, extensive, far-embracing, far-extending, far-flung,
   far-flying, far-going, far-ranging, far-reaching, flow, flowing,
   foggy, fuzzy, garbage, general, glide, gliding, global, hazy,
   hit-or-miss, ill-defined, imprecise, inaccurate, inchoate,
   incoherent, indecisive, indefinable, indefinite, indeterminable,
   indeterminate, indiscriminate, indistinct, inexact,
   insurrectionary, intensive, junk, large-scale, lax, liberal,
   litter, loose, nonspecific, obscure, omnibus, omnipresent,
   orderless, out-and-out, outright, over-all, overwhelming,
   panoramic, perfect, pervasive, plain, plumb, pure, radical, random,
   regular, revolutional, revolutionary, revulsionary, revulsive,
   rubbish, sailing, shadowed forth, shadowy, shapeless, sheer,
   skating, skiing, skim, sledding, slide, sliding, slipping, slither,
   slithering, stochastic, straight, sweep, synoptic, thorough,
   thoroughgoing, through-and-through, tobogganing, total,
   transilient, trash, ubiquitous, umbrella, unclear, unconditional,
   undefined, undestined, undetermined, universal, unmitigated,
   unplain, unqualified, unreserved, unrestricted, unspecified, utter,
   vague, veiled, veritable, waste, whole, wholesale, wide,
   wide-extended, wide-extending, wide-ranging, wide-reaching,
   wide-stretching, widespread, without exception, without omission