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Sweeping   /swˈipɪŋ/   Listen
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.


adjective
Sweeping  adj.  Cleaning off surfaces, or cleaning away dust, dirt, or litter, as a broom does; moving with swiftness and force; carrying everything before it; including in its scope many persons or things; as, a sweeping flood; a sweeping majority; a sweeping accusation.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Sweeping" Quotes from Famous Books



... suppliant. But now the scene has changed. The strength of the red man has become weakness. As his neighbors increased in numbers, his power became less and less, and now, of the many and powerful tribes who once covered the United States, only a few are to be seen—a few whom a sweeping pestilence had left. The northern tribes, who were once so numerous and powerful, are now nearly extinct. Thus it has happened to the red man of America. Shall we, who are ...
— American Institutions and Their Influence • Alexis de Tocqueville et al
... was hailed by the knowing ones aboard as Point Pinos (Pines Point), guardian of the harbor of Monterey. Gradually the steamer turned in; another harbor opened, with a cluster of white, red-roofed houses behind it, at the foot of the hills. Sweeping in past the pine-ridged point the California, with boom of gun, dropped anchor in ...
— Gold Seekers of '49 • Edwin L. Sabin
... glide towards the anchorage two features attract my attention: the Morro or hill-ridge on the mainland, and the narrow strip which forms the harbour. The escarpment, sweeping from a meridian to a parallel, juts westward in the bluff Cape Lagostas (Lobsters), a many-coloured face, in places not unlike the white cliffs of Dover; it then trends from north-east to south-west, bending at last in a picturesque bow, with a ...
— Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2 • Richard F. Burton
... But no one who knew the two men could have doubted that in the shaping of a measure involving so wide a range of detail, the leading part must have been taken by the Irish Civil Servant who in India had acquired most of his fame from a sweeping measure of land reform. ...
— John Redmond's Last Years • Stephen Gwynn
... bounds to what was said in the greenroom. One night I remember gathering up my skirts (we were, I think, playing "The Rivals" at the time), making a curtsey, as Mr. Chippendale, one of the best actors in old comedy I ever knew, had taught me, and sweeping out of the room with the famous line from another Sheridan play: "Ladies and gentlemen, I ...
— The Story of My Life - Recollections and Reflections • Ellen Terry


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