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   Sweep

   /swēp/

   

   verb

   • 1. clean (an area) by brushing away dirt or litter: "I've swept the floor" Similar brushcleanscrubwipemopdustscourscraperakebuffvacuumhooverinformal:do
   • ▪ move or remove (dirt or litter) by sweeping: "she swept the tea leaves into a dustpan" Similar removewash awayexpeldispose ofeliminateget rid ofbrushcleanclearwhisk
   • ▪ move or push (someone or something) with great force: "I was swept along by the crowd" Similar carrypulldragdrive
   • ▪ brush (hair) back from one's face or upward: "long hair swept up into a high chignon"
   • 2. move swiftly and smoothly: "a large black car swept past the open windows" Similar glidesaildashchargerushstreakspeedflyzoomswoopwhizhurtleinformal:tear
   • ▪ cause to move swiftly and smoothly: "he swept his hand around the room"
   • ▪ (of a person) move in a confident and stately manner: "she swept magnificently from the hall" Similar glidesailstridebreezestrollsallyswaggerdriftflitflounce
   • ▪ affect (an area or place) swiftly and widely: "the rebellion had swept through all four of the country's provinces" Similar engulfoverwhelmfloodflow acrosssurge overracehurtlestreakspread like lightninginformal:tearwhip
   • ▪ (of a geographical or natural feature) extend continuously in a particular direction, especially in a curve: "green forests swept down the hillsides"
   • ▪ win all the games in (a series); take each of the winning or main places in (a contest or event): North American "we knew we had to sweep these three home games"
   • 3. search (an area) for something: "the detective swept the room for hair and fingerprints" Similar searchprobecheckexplorehunt throughlook throughdelve ingo throughsift throughscourcombgo through with a fine-tooth combleave no stone unturned in
   • ▪ examine (a place or object) for electronic listening devices: "the line is swept every fifteen minutes"
   • ▪ cover (an entire area) with a gun: "they were trying to get the Lewis gun up behind some trees from where they would sweep the trench"

   noun

   • 1. an act of sweeping something with a brush: "I was giving the floor a quick sweep"
   • ▪ short for chimney sweep
   • 2. a long, swift curving movement: "a grandiose sweep of his hand" Similar gesturemovementmoveactionstrokewave
   • ▪ the movement of a beam across the screen of a cathode ray tube.
   • 3. a procedure for inducing labor in a pregnant woman, in which a medical practitioner moves a finger around within the opening of the cervix to detach the amniotic membranes: "I went in for a sweep at 41 weeks"
   • 4. a comprehensive search or survey of a place or area: "the police finished their sweep through the woods" Similar searchhuntexplorationprobeforagepursuitquest
   • ▪ a survey of the ratings of broadcast stations, carried out at regular intervals to determine advertising rates. North American
   • 5. a long, typically curved stretch of road, river, or land: "we could see a wide sweep of country perhaps a hundred miles across" Similar expansetractstretchspaceplainextentvastnessvista
   • ▪ a curved part of a driveway in front of a building: "one fork of the driveway continued on to the gravel sweep" Similar curvecurvaturebendarcarchbowturn
   • ▪ the range or scope of something: "the whole sweep of the history of the USSR" Similar rangespanscopecompassreachspreadambitremitgamutorbitspectrumspherepurviewlimitextent
   • 6. a sweepstake. informal
   • 7. an instance of winning every event, award, or place in a contest: North American "a World Series sweep"
   • 8. a long, heavy oar used to row a barge or other vessel: "a big, heavy sweep oar"
   • 9. a sail of a windmill.
   • 10. a long pole mounted as a lever for raising buckets from a well.

   Word Origin Old Englishswāpan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to German schweifen ‘sweep in a curve’.

   Scrabble Points: 10

   • S

     1

   • W

     4

   • E

     1

   • E

     1

   • P

     3

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