/swiːp/, /swip/
OriginFrom 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.
- transitiveTo clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush.
“to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney”
“I will sweep it with the besom of destruction.”
- intransitiveTo move through a (horizontal) arc or similar long stroke.
“The wind sweeps across the plain.”
“The offended countess swept out of the ballroom.”
“[H]as the course of the argument so accustomed you to agreeing that you were swept by it into a ready assent?”
- transitiveTo search (a place) methodically.
- figuratively, intransitiveTo travel quickly.
“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.”
“Everton took that disputed lead in a moment that caused anger to sweep around the Emirates.”
- To play a sweep shot.
- To brush the ice in front of a moving stone, causing it to travel farther and to curl less.
- ergative, transitiveTo move something in a long sweeping motion, as a broom.
- transitiveTo win (a series) without drawing or losing any of the games in that series.
- transitiveTo defeat (a team) in a series without drawing or losing any of the games in that series.
- To clear (a body of water or part thereof) of mines.
“The channel was swept twice before the battlefleet proceeded through it.”
- transitiveTo remove something abruptly and thoroughly.
“She swept the peelings off the table onto the floor.”
“The wind sweeps the snow from the hills.”
“The flooded river swept away the wooden dam.”
- To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.
“Their long descending train, / With rubies edg'd and sapphires, swept the plain.”
“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 w”
- 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.”
- To strike with a long stroke.
“Deſcend ye nine! deſcend and ſing; / The breathing inſtruments inſpire, / VVake into voice each ſilent ſtring, / And ſvveep the ſounding lyre!”
- To row with one oar to either the port or starboard side.
- To draw or drag something over.
“to sweep the bottom of a river with a net”
- To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation.
“to sweep the heavens with a telescope”
“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 ”
- Pennsylvania, WesternTo vacuum a carpet or rug.
- A single action of sweeping.
“Give the front steps a quick sweep to get rid of those fallen leaves.”
- The person who steers a dragon boat.
- A person who stands at the stern of a surf boat, steering with a steering oar and commanding the crew.
- A chimney sweep.
“He was, perhaps, the English railwayman's conception of the French mécanicien - short and broad, black as a sweep even before we left Calais (but no blacker than I was on arrival at Paris) and wearing”
- A methodical search, typically for bugs (electronic listening devices).
- A batsman's shot, played from a kneeling position with a swinging horizontal bat.
“Bradman attempted a sweep, but in fact top edged the ball to the wicket keeper”
- A lottery, usually on the results of a sporting event, where players win if their randomly chosen team wins.
“Jim will win fifty dollars in the office sweep if Japan wins the World Cup.”
- A flow of water parallel to shore caused by wave action at an ocean beach or at a point or headland.
- The degree to which an aircraft's wings are angled backwards (or, occasionally, forwards) from their attachments to the fuselage.
“The MiG-17's inner wing has 45 degrees of sweep.”
- A throw or takedown that primarily uses the legs to attack an opponent's legs.
- Violent and general destruction.
“the sweep of an epidemic disease”
- A movable template for making moulds, in loam moulding.
- In the game casino, the act of capturing all face-up cards from the table.
- The compass of any turning body or of any motion.
“the sweep of a door; the sweep of the eye”
- Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, etc. away from a rectilinear line.
“the road which makes a small sweep”
- A large oar used in small vessels, partly to propel them and partly to steer them.
“I intend to muffle the sweeps and row the schooner up to the head of the creek there, from which point we can command the pile of sandal-wood with our gun.”
- attributiveA rowing style in which each rower rows with oar on either the port or starboard side.
“I am primarily a sweep rower.”
- obsoleteThe almond furnace.
- 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.
- Any of the blades of a windmill.
- in-pluralThe sweepings of workshops where precious metals are worked, containing filings, etc.
- Any of several sea chubs in the family Kyphosidae (subfamily Scorpidinae).
“Octopus clambered about from hole to hole and startled sweep blurred away as we passed.”
- An expanse or a swath, a strip of land.
“The Himalaya guards the southern rim of the plateau in one continuous sweep of 2250 km, each end marked by a massive mountain, Nanga Parbat on the Indus in the west and Namjagbarwa at the great bend o”
- US, form-of, singularsingular of sweeps (“viewership ratings”)
“A proposal to redistribute the diaries used in sweeps to provide a 4-week "buyer report" earlier than the normal November sweep followed by three quarterly reports was not welcomed […]”
Formssweeps(present, singular, third-person) · sweeping(participle, present) · swept(participle, past) · swept(past) · sweeps(plural)