sweep

Plural: sweeps

Noun

• a wide scope
  • "the sweep of the plains"
• someone who cleans soot from chimneys
• winning all or all but one of the tricks in bridge
• a long oar used in an open boat
• (American football) an attempt to advance the ball by running around the end of the line
• a movement in an arc
  • "a sweep of his arm"
• A single action of sweeping.
• 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.
• A methodical search, typically for bugs (electronic listening devices).
• A batsman's shot, played from a kneeling position with a swinging horizontal bat.
• A lottery, usually on the results of a sporting event, where players win if their randomly chosen team wins.
• 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.
• A throw or takedown that primarily uses the legs to attack an opponent's legs.
• Violent and general destruction.
• 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.
• Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, etc. away from a rectilinear line.
• A large oar used in small vessels, partly to propel them and partly to steer them.
• A rowing style in which each rower rows with oar on either the port or starboard side.
• The 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.
• The sweepings of workshops where precious metals are worked, containing filings, etc.
• Any of several sea chubs in the family Kyphosidae (subfamily Scorpidinae).
• An expanse or a swath, a strip of land.
• singular of sweeps (“viewership ratings”)

Verb

Verb Forms: swept, sweeping, sweeps

• To clean or clear a surface with a broom or brush.
• sweep across or over
• move with sweeping, effortless, gliding motions
• sweep with a broom or as if with a broom
  • "Sweep the crumbs off the table"
  • "Sweep under the bed"
• force into some kind of situation, condition, or course of action
• to cover or extend over an area or time period; ,
• clean by sweeping
  • "Please sweep the floor"
• win an overwhelming victory in or on
• cover the entire range of
• make a big sweeping gesture or movement
• To clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush.
• To move through a (horizontal) arc or similar long stroke.
• To search (a place) methodically.
• To travel quickly.
• To play a sweep shot.
• To brush the ice in front of a moving stone, causing it to travel farther and to curl less.
• To move something in a long sweeping motion, as a broom.
• To win (a series) without drawing or losing any of the games in that series.
• To 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.
• To remove something abruptly and thoroughly.
• To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.
• To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence, to carry in a stately or proud fashion.
• To strike with a long stroke.
• To row with one oar to either the port or starboard side.
• To draw or drag something over.
• To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation.
• To vacuum a carpet or rug.

Examples

• Bradman attempted a sweep, but in fact top edged the ball to the wicket keeper
• Give the front steps a quick sweep to get rid of those fallen leaves.
• He hoped to SWEEP the board clean with a massive bingo, leaving no room for his opponent.
• I am primarily a sweep rower.
• Jim will win fifty dollars in the office sweep if Japan wins the World Cup.
• She swept the peelings off the table onto the floor.
• The channel was swept twice before the battlefleet proceeded through it.
• The flooded river swept away the wooden dam.
• The MiG-17's inner wing has 45 degrees of sweep.
• The offended countess swept out of the ballroom.
• the sweep of a door; the sweep of the eye
• the sweep of an epidemic disease
• The wind sweeps across the plain.
• The wind sweeps the snow from the hills.
• to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney
• to sweep the bottom of a river with a net
• to sweep the heavens with a telescope

Synonyms

broom, brush, chimneysweep, chimneysweeper, cross, drag, drag in, embroil, end run, expanse, sail, slam, span, sweep oar, sweep up, swing, swing out, tangle, traverse

Anagrams of sweep