Definitions for sweep
swipsweep

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. sweep, expansenoun

   a wide scope

   "the sweep of the plains"

2. chimneysweeper, chimneysweep, sweepnoun

   someone who cleans soot from chimneys

3. slam, sweepnoun

   winning all or all but one of the tricks in bridge

4. sweep, sweep oarnoun

   a long oar used in an open boat

5. end run, sweepnoun

   (American football) an attempt to advance the ball by running around the end of the line

6. sweepverb

   a movement in an arc

   "a sweep of his arm"

7. brush, sweepverb

   sweep across or over

   "Her long skirt brushed the floor"; "A gasp swept cross the audience"

8. sweep, sailverb

   move with sweeping, effortless, gliding motions

   "The diva swept into the room"; "Shreds of paper sailed through the air"; "The searchlights swept across the sky"

9. sweep, broomverb

   sweep with a broom or as if with a broom

   "Sweep the crumbs off the table"; "Sweep under the bed"

10. embroil, tangle, sweep, sweep up, drag, drag inverb

    force into some kind of situation, condition, or course of action

    "They were swept up by the events"; "don't drag me into this business"

11. cross, traverse, span, sweepverb

    to cover or extend over an area or time period

    "Rivers traverse the valley floor", "The parking lot spans 3 acres"; "The novel spans three centuries"

12. sweepverb

    clean by sweeping

    "Please sweep the floor"

13. sweepverb

    win an overwhelming victory in or on

    "Her new show dog swept all championships"

14. sweepverb

    cover the entire range of

15. swing, sweep, swing outverb

    make a big sweeping gesture or movement

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sweepnoun

   The person who steers a dragon boat.

2. sweepnoun

   A person who stands at the stern of a surf boat, steering with a steering oar and commanding the crew.

3. sweepnoun

   A chimney sweep.

4. sweepnoun

   A search (typically for bugs [electronic listening devices]).

5. sweepnoun

   A batsman's shot, played from a kneeling position with a swinging horizontal bat.

6. sweepnoun

   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.

7. sweepnoun

   A flow of water parallel to shore caused by wave action at an ocean beach or at a point or headland.

8. sweepnoun

   A single action of sweeping.

9. sweepverb

   To clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush.

10. sweepverb

    To move through an (horizontal) arc or similar long stroke.

11. sweepverb

    To search (a place) methodically.

12. sweepverb

    To travel quickly.

13. sweepverb

    To play a sweep shot.

14. sweepverb

    To brush the ice in front of a moving stone, causing it to travel farther and to curl less.

15. sweepverb

    To move something in a particular motion, as a broom

16. sweepverb

    To win (a series) without drawing or losing any of the games in that series.

17. sweepverb

    To defeat (a team) in a series without drawing or losing any of the games in that series.

18. Etymology: From swapan; see also swoop.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Sweepnoun

   Etymology: from the verb.

   1. The act of sweeping.2. The compass of any violent or continued motion.

   A door drags when by its ill hanging on its hinges, or by the ill boarding of the room the bottom edge of the door rides in its sweep upon the floor. Joseph Moxon, Mechan. Exercise.

   Lion-hearted Richard like a torrent swell’d
   With wintry tempests, that disdains all mounds,
   Breaking away impetuous, and involves
   Within its sweep, trees, houses, men. Philips.

   3. Violent destruction.

   In countries subject to great epidemical sweeps, men may live very long, but where the proportion of the chronical distemper is great, it is not likely to be so. John Graunt.

   4. Direction of any motion not rectilinear.

   Having made one incision a little circularly, begin a second, bringing it with an opposite sweep to meet the other. Samuel Sharp.

2. To Sweepverb

   Etymology: swapan , Saxon.

   1. To drive away with a besom.2. To clean with a besom.

   What woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one, doth not sweep the house, and seek diligently ’till she find it? Lu. xv. 8.

   3. To carry with pomp.

   Let frantick Talbot triumph for a while,
   And, like a peacock, sweep along his tail. William Shakespeare, H. VI.

   4. To drive or carry off with celerity and violence.

   Though I could,
   With barefac’d power, sweep him from my sight,
   And bid my will avouch it; yet I must not. William Shakespeare.

   The river of Kishon swept them away. Judges v.

   The blustering winds striving for victory, swept the snow from off the tops of those high mountains, and cast it down unto the plains in such abundance, that the Turks lay as men buried alive. Richard Knolles, History of the Turks.

   Flying bullets now
   To execute his rage appear too slow;
   They miss or sweep but common souls away;
   For such a loss Opdam his life must pay. Edmund Waller.

   My looking is the fire of pestilence,
   That sweeps at once the people and the prince. Dryden.

   I have already swept the stakes, and with the common good fortune of prosperous gamesters can be content to sit. Dryden.

   Is this the man who drives me before him
   To the world’s ridge, and sweeps me off like rubbish? Dryd.

   Fool! time no change of motion knows;
   With equal speed the torrent flows
   To sweep fame, pow’r, and wealth away:
   The past is all by death possest,
   And frugal fate that guards the rest,
   By giving, bids them live, to day. Elijah Fenton.

   A duke holding in a great many hands, drew a huge heap of gold; but never observed a sharper, who under his arm swept a great deal of it into his hat. Jonathan Swift.

   5. To pass over with celerity and force.6. To rub over.

   Their long descending train
   With rubies edg’d, and sapphires swept the plain. Dryden.

   7. To strike with long stroke.

   Descend ye nine; descend and sing;
   The breathing instruments inspire,
   Wake into voice each silent string,
   And sweep the sounding lyre. Alexander Pope.

3. To Sweepverb

   1. To pass with violence, tumult, or swiftness.

   Haste me to know it, that I with wings as swift
   As meditation or the thoughts of love
   May sweep to my revenge. William Shakespeare.

   A poor man that oppresseth the poor, is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food. Prov. xxviii. iii.

   Before tempestuous winds arise,
   Stars shooting through the darkness gild the night
   With sweeping glories and long trails of light. Dryden.

   2. To pass with pomp; to pass with an equal motion.

   She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies,
   More like an empress than duke Humphrey’s wife. William Shakespeare.

   In gentle dreams I often will be by,
   And sweep along before your closing eye. Dryden.

   3. To move with a long reach.

   Nor always errs; for oft the gauntlet draws
   A sweeping stroke along the crackling jaws. Dryden.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Sweepverb

   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

2. Sweepverb

   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

3. Sweepverb

   to brush against or over; to rub lightly along

4. Sweepverb

   to carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence, to carry in a stately or proud fashion

5. Sweepverb

   to strike with a long stroke

6. Sweepverb

   to draw or drag something over; as, to sweep the bottom of a river with a net

7. Sweepverb

   to pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation; as, to sweep the heavens with a telescope

8. Sweepverb

   to clean rooms, yards, etc., or to clear away dust, dirt, litter, etc., with a broom, brush, or the like

9. Sweepverb

   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

10. Sweepverb

    to pass over anything comprehensively; to range through with rapidity; as, his eye sweeps through space

11. Sweepnoun

    the act of sweeping

12. Sweepnoun

    the compass or range of a stroke; as, a long sweep

13. Sweepnoun

    the compass of any turning body or of any motion; as, the sweep of a door; the sweep of the eye

14. Sweepnoun

    the compass of anything flowing or brushing; as, the flood carried away everything within its sweep

15. Sweepnoun

    violent and general destruction; as, the sweep of an epidemic disease

16. Sweepnoun

    direction and extent of any motion not rectlinear; as, the sweep of a compass

17. Sweepnoun

    direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, or the like, away from a rectlinear line

18. Sweepnoun

    one who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, a chimney sweeper

19. Sweepnoun

    a movable templet for making molds, in loam molding

20. Sweepnoun

    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

21. Sweepnoun

    a large oar used in small vessels, partly to propel them and partly to steer them

22. Sweepnoun

    the almond furnace

23. Sweepnoun

    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

24. Sweepnoun

    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

25. Sweepnoun

    the sweeping of workshops where precious metals are worked, containing filings, etc

26. Etymology: [OE. swepen; akin to AS. swpan. See Swoop, v. i.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Sweep

   Sweep is a series of young adult fantasy novels written by Cate Tiernan, the first of which, Book of Shadows, was published in 2001. The series follows a teenage girl, Morgan Rowlands, who discovers she is the descendant of a long line of witches, and possesses powerful magick of her own.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Sweep

   swēp, v.t. to wipe or rub over with a brush or broom: to carry along or off by a long brushing stroke or force: to destroy or carry off at a stroke: to strike with a long stroke: to carry with pomp: to drag over: to pass rapidly over.—v.i. to pass swiftly and forcibly: to pass with pomp: to move with a long reach:—pa.t. and pa.p. swept.—n. act of sweeping: extent of a stroke, or of anything turning or in motion: prevalence, range: direction of a curve: the act of bringing into a general movement: rapid or wide-spread destructiveness: a curved approach before a building: a chimney-sweeper: (pl.) oars of great length used during a calm or in still water, either to assist the rudder or to propel the vessel.—n. Sweep′er.—adv. Sweep′ingly, in a sweeping manner.—n. Sweep′ingness.—n.pl. Sweep′ings, things collected by sweeping: rubbish.—ns. Sweep′-net, a net that embraces a large compass: Sweep′stake (Shak.), one who wins all—usually in pl. Sweep′stakes, a method of gambling by which several persons contribute each certain stakes, the whole of which fall to one in case of a certain event happening; Sweep′-wash′er, one who scrapes a little gold or silver from the sweepings of refineries.—adj. Sweep′y, swaying, sweeping, curving. [A.S. swápan; Ger. schweifen, Cf. Swoop.]

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sweep

   The trending or inclination of a coast to a crescent. Also, that part of the mould of a ship, where she begins to compass in the rung-heads. Also, a large kind of oar.--To sweep a coast. To sail along at a reasonable distance with a vigilant inspection.

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sweep

   To clear or brush away; as, the cannon swept everything before it.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sweep

   To maintain or clean with a specific type of brush.

   They did sweep the floors a few times a week.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on February 27, 2020  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. sweep

   Song lyrics by sweep -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by sweep on the Lyrics.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. SWEEP

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Sweep is ranked #99378 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Sweep surname appeared 182 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Sweep.
   
   95% or 173 total occurrences were White.

Matched Categories

1. • American Football
   • Clean
   • Cover
   • Involve
   • Move
   • Oar
   • Run
   • Victory
   • Win
   • Wipe

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'sweep' in Verbs Frequency: #552

Anagrams for sweep »

1. weeps

How to pronounce sweep?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say sweep in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of sweep in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of sweep in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of sweep in a Sentence

1. Brad Parscale:

   Although Matt Bevin has not outlined Matt Bevin next steps, Kentucky law provides for a variety of possiblechallenges -- including a recount, a recanvass, or a legal challenge to the election based on irregularities. There is no automatic recount process under Kentucky law. TRUMP CALLS ON ANGRY MAJORITY TO BOOST Matt Bevin, IN NOD TO REAGANS MORAL MAJORITY AND NIXONS SILENT MAJORITY Regardless of the final outcome, the razor-thin margin in the race did not come as a surprise Republicans. Although President Trump carried deep-red Kentucky by 30 points in the 2016 presidential election, Matt Bevin has long beenunusually unpopular for a Republican in the state, owing in part to President Trump numerous spats with striking public school teachers and President Trump plan to address a growing pension crisis. Kentucky Governor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin, right, shakes hands with a poll worker after casting Kentucky Governor ballot in the state's general election in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. ( AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley) Bevinsignificantly underperformedthe rest of the The GOP ticket on the ballot in Kentucky on Tuesday, as Republican Daniel Cameron handily won hisrace to become the states next attorney general. Cameronmade history as thefirst African-American to be electedKentucky Attorney Generaland the first Republican to hold the post in more than 70 years. DEMS SWEEP VIRGINIA STATE HOUSE, SENATE ELECTIONS, CAPPING STATES DRAMATIC LEFTWARD SHIFT In a major indicatorthat Bevin isunpopular among Kentuckians, Republican Daniel Cameron received 774,864 votes in his 15-percentage-point win -- while Matt Bevin garnered only approximately 700,000 votes for Matt Bevin marquee gubernatorial bid. It is highly unusual for down-ballot races to attract more voter interest than gubernatorial contests. Republican Daniel Cameron was elected the state's first-ever black Attorney General on Tuesday. ( AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File) Meanwhile, Republican attorney and former elections board member Michael Adams was easily elected as Kentuckys next secretary of state, andRepublican Mike Harmon wasre-elected as Kentucky auditor. Additionally, Republican Ryan Quarles was re-elected as Kentucky commissioner of agriculture, and The GOP incumbent Allison Ball won a second term as Kentuckys treasurer. Those results -- and Bevins unique vulnerabilities -- led Kentucky Republicans to dismiss claims that the gubernatorial race had any meaningfulnational implications. President Trumps rally helped five of six Kentucky Republicans win clear statewide victories, including Attorney General-elect Republican Daniel Cameron, who will be the first black A.G. in Kentucky history and the first Republican to hold the office since 1948, the President just about dragged Gov. Matt Bevin across the finish line, helping him run stronger than expected in what turned into a very close race at the end. A final outcome remains to be seen. However, in what could be a worrying sign for Republicans in the long term, Matt Bevin underperformed inNorthern Kentucky, typically a The GOP stronghold, and among suburban voters in several counties outside of Cincinnati. Apparently aware of his problems with voters, Matt Bevin had remarkedin February.

2. Dale Bailey:

   Radiation detectors on moving vehicles can be used to detect radiation above the natural levels, but the relatively low amount of radiation in the source means that they would have to ‘sweep’ the area relatively slowly.

3. Rabnawaz Akbar:

   We don't want to sweep under the carpet the issues that [Muslim communities] do face, a lot of people live in densely-populated terraced housing.

4. Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin:

   My office diligently works to keep the bad actors out of the Commonwealth, ... This sweep is intended to establish how the industry is meeting this critical investor protection responsibility of keeping the rogue broker out of the industry.

5. Charles Gladden:

   I just sweep, clean the bathroom, that type of stuff.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=sweep
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sweep
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=sweep
4. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sweep
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=sweep
6. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=sweep
7. ^ Dictionary of Nautical Terms
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26000/pg26000-images.html#:~:text=sweep
8. ^ Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59563/pg59563-images.html
9. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html