clean sweep

See synonyms for clean sweep on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an overwhelming or decisive victory, as by a political candidate who wins in all or almost all election districts.

  2. the winning of all the prizes, rounds, contests, etc., in a competition or of all the games in a series.

  1. a thorough or sweeping change, especially one effected by the large-scale removal or elimination of unwanted persons or things: The new president made a clean sweep when he joined the company, replacing all the department heads.

Words Nearby clean sweep

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use clean sweep in a sentence

  • "No—they'll try the other side now to get a clean sweep at me," said Stover.

    The Varmint | Owen Johnson
  • General Thomas made a clean sweep of the artillery, capturing every piece, and taking forty-five hundred prisoners.

    The Blue and The Gray | A. R. White
  • The woods that interfered with his cannon ranges had all been cut away, and his guns had a clean sweep of every approach.

    Nurse and Spy in the Union Army | S. Emma E. Edmonds
  • All at once it struck me that if I really frightened him too much they might decamp without making a clean sweep.

    Murder in Any Degree | Owen Johnson
  • Not that it wouldn't seem as usual, even if the gang had paid us a visit and made a clean sweep of our poor possessions.

    The Second Latchkey | Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson

Other Idioms and Phrases with clean sweep

clean sweep

see make a clean sweep.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.