sweep
Noun · VerbOpen English WordNet
Verb (9)swept, sweeps, sweeping
- sweep across or over“Her long skirt brushed the floor”“A gasp swept cross the audience”Synonyms: brushMore general moveSimilar brush, sail
- 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”Synonyms: sailMore general moveMore specific swanSimilar brush
- sweep with a broom or as if with a broom“Sweep the crumbs off the table”“Sweep under the bed”Synonyms: broomMore general wipe, pass over
- 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”Synonyms: embroiltanglesweep updragdrag inMore general involve
- 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”Synonyms: crosstraversespanMore general cover, continue
- clean by sweeping“Please sweep the floor”More general clean, make cleanSimilar broom
- win an overwhelming victory in or on“Her new show dog swept all championships”
- cover the entire range of
- make a big sweeping gesture or movementSynonyms: swingswing out
Noun (6)sweeps
- a wide scope“the sweep of the plains”Synonyms: expanseType of scope, range
- someone who cleans soot from chimneysSynonyms: chimneysweeperchimneysweepType of cleaner
- winning all or all but one of the tricks in bridgeSynonyms: slamType of victory, triumphKinds little slam, grand slamPart of bridge
- a long oar used in an open boatSynonyms: sweep oarType of oar
- (American football) an attempt to advance the ball by running around the end of the lineSynonyms: end runType of run, running
- a movement in an arc“a sweep of his arm”Type of motion, movement
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Verb to clean using a broom or brush
- Spanish
- barrer
- French
- balayer
- German
- fegen
- Italian
- spazzare
- Portuguese
- varrer
- Turkish
- süpürmek
- Russian
- мести́ mestí
- Arabic
- كنس kanasa
- Chinese
- 打扫 dǎsǎo
- Japanese
- 掃く haku
26 more languages
- Dutch
- vegen
- Polish
- zamiatać
- Swedish
- sopa
- Greek
- σκουπίζω skoupízo
- Korean
- 쓸다 sseulda
- Vietnamese
- quét dọn
- Hungarian
- söpör
- Portuguese (PT)
- varrer
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 打掃 dǎsǎo
- Albanian
- fshij
- Catalan
- escombrar
- Czech
- zamést
- Danish
- feje
- Esperanto
- balai
- Estonian
- pühkima
- Finnish
- luutia
- Icelandic
- sópa
- Latvian
- slaucīt
- Lithuanian
- šluoti
- Norwegian
- feie
- Romanian
- mătura
- Scottish Gaelic
- sguab
- Serbo-Croatian
- mesti
- Slovenian
- mesti
- Walloon
- schover
- Welsh
- ysgubo
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: OE. swepen; akin to AS. swāpan. See Swoop, intransitive verb
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.
I will sweep it with the besom of destruction.— Isa. xiv. 23.
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.
The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies.— Isa. xxviii. 17.
I have already swept the stakes.— John Dryden
3. To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.
Their long descending train, With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain.— John Dryden
4. To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence, to carry in a stately or proud fashion.
And like a peacock sweep along his tail.— William Shakespeare
5. To strike with a long stroke.
Wake into voice each silent string, And sweep the sounding lyre.— Alexander Pope
6. Nautical To draw or drag something over; as, to sweep the bottom of a river with a net.
7. To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation; as, to sweep the heavens with a telescope.
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.
1. To clean rooms, yards, etc., or to clear away dust, dirt, litter, etc., with a broom, brush, or the like.
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.
3. To pass over anything comprehensively; to range through with rapidity; as, his eye sweeps through space.
1. The act of sweeping.
2. The compass or range of a stroke; as, a long sweep.
3. The compass of any turning body or of any motion; as, the sweep of a door; the sweep of the eye.
4. The compass of anything flowing or brushing; as, the flood carried away everything within its sweep.
5. Violent and general destruction; as, the sweep of an epidemic disease.
6. Direction and extent of any motion not rectilinear; as, the sweep of a compass.
7. Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, or the like, away from a rectilinear line.
The road which makes a small sweep.— Sir Walter Scott
8. One who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, a chimney sweeper.
9. Founding A movable templet for making molds, in loam molding.
10. Nautical (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.
11. Refining The almond furnace. obsolete
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.]
13. Card games 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.
14. pl. The sweeping of workshops where precious metals are worked, containing filings, etc.
Sweep net, a net for drawing over a large compass. — Sweep of the tiller Nautical, a circular frame on which the tiller traverses.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54