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Sweep   /swip/   Listen
noun
Sweep  n.  
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 rectlinear; as, the sweep of a compass.
7.
Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, or the like, away from a rectlinear line. "The road which makes a small sweep."
8.
One who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, a chimney sweeper.
9.
(Founding) A movable templet for making molds, in loam molding.
10.
(Naut.)
(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. (Obs.)
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 Playing) 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 (Naut.), a circular frame on which the tiller traverses.


verb
Sweep  v. t.  (past & past part. swept; pres. part. sweeping)  
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."
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." "I have already swept the stakes."
3.
To brush against or over; to rub lightly along. "Their long descending train, With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain."
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."
5.
To strike with a long stroke. "Wake into voice each silent string, And sweep the sounding lyre."
6.
(Naut.) 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.


Sweep  v. i.  (past & past part. swept; pres. part. sweeping)  
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.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Sweep" Quotes from Famous Books



... much too sleepy at dawn after a long night's hunting to begin to sweep and dust,' answered the owl. And they both made up their minds that wives they ...
— The Orange Fairy Book • Andrew Lang
... the gun in a convenient position about twenty yards from the margin of the river, on a piece of hard, flat ground, exactly opposite the centre of the line of vessels. This would sweep the approach in front ...
— Ismailia • Samuel W. Baker
... redeem the vineyard which thou hast planted, And sweep thence the strangers, and save us now! O regard the covenant which thou hast sealed in us! O remember for us the father who knew thee, To whom thou, too, didst make known thy love, And ...
— Chapters on Jewish Literature • Israel Abrahams
... of the shrouds left, also, and the backstay; but, of everything else, as far as we could judge at that distance, a clean sweep had been made fore and aft and the vessel seemed to ...
— Crown and Anchor - Under the Pen'ant • John Conroy Hutcheson
... Mr. Chetwynd," Gibbons growled, "is that the best thing to do would be to put a score of soldiers at the end of all these lanes, and then to burn the whole place down, and make a clean sweep of it. I never saw such a villainous looking crew in all my life. I have been in hopes all along that some of them would resist; it would have been a real pleasure to have let fly ...
— Colonel Thorndyke's Secret • G. A. Henty


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