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sweep - 10 dictionary results
Sweeps
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sweep

1  [sweep] ,verb, swept, sweep⋅ing, noun
Use sweep in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to move or remove (dust, dirt, etc.) with or as if with a broom, brush, or the like.
2. to clear or clean (a floor, room, chimney, etc.) of dirt, litter, or the like, by means of a broom or brush.
3. to drive or carry by some steady force, as of a wind or wave: The wind swept the snow into drifts.
4. to pass or draw (something) over a surface with a continuous stroke or movement: The painter swept a brush over his canvas.
5. to make (a path, opening, etc.) by clearing a space with or as if with a broom.
6. to clear (a surface, place, etc.) of something on or in it (often fol. by of): to sweep a sea of enemy ships.
7. to pass over (a surface, region, etc.) with a steady, driving movement or unimpeded course, as winds, floods, etc.: sandstorms sweeping the plains.
8. to search (an area or building) thoroughly: Soldiers swept the town, looking for deserters.
9. to pass the gaze, eyes, etc., over (a region, area, etc.): His eyes swept the countryside.
10. to direct (the eyes, gaze, etc.) over a region, surface, or the like: He swept his eyes over the countryside.
11. to examine electronically, as to search for a hidden listening device.
12. to win a complete or overwhelming victory in (a contest): Johnson swept the presidential election of 1964.
13. to win (every game, round, hand, etc., of a series of contests): The Yankees swept the three-game series.
14. Music.
a. to pass the fingers or bow over (a musical instrument, its strings or keys, etc.), as in playing.
b. to bring forth (music) thus.
–verb (used without object)
15. to sweep a floor, room, etc., with or as if with a broom: The new broom sweeps well.
16. to move steadily and strongly or swiftly (usually fol. by along, down, by, into, etc.).
17. to move or pass in a swift but stately manner: Proudly, she swept from the room.
18. to move, pass, or extend in a continuous course, esp. a wide curve or circuit: His glance swept around the room.
19. to conduct an underwater search by towing a drag under the surface of the water.
20. Aeronautics. (of an airfoil or its leading or trailing edge) to project from the fuselage at an angle rearward or forward of a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.
–noun
21. the act of sweeping, esp. a moving, removing, clearing, etc., by or as if by the use of a broom: to give the house a good sweep.
22. the steady, driving motion or swift onward course of something moving with force or without interruption: the sweep of the wind and the waves.
23. an examination by electronic detection devices of a room or building to determine the presence of hidden listening devices.
24. a swinging or curving movement or stroke, as of the arm, a weapon, an oar, etc.
25. reach, range, or compass, as of something sweeping about: the sweep of a road about a marsh.
26. a continuous extent or stretch: a broad sweep of sand.
27. a curving, esp. widely or gently curving, line, form, part, or mass.
28. matter removed or gathered by sweeping.
29. Also called well sweep. a leverlike device for raising or lowering a bucket in a well.
30. a large oar used in small vessels, sometimes to assist the rudder or to propel the craft.
31. an overwhelming victory in a contest.
32. a winning of all the games, rounds, hands, prizes, etc., in a contest by one contestant.
33. Football. end run.
34. one of the sails of a windmill.
35. Agriculture. any of the detachable triangular blades on a cultivator.
36. Chiefly British. a person employed to clean by sweeping, esp. a chimney sweeper.
37. Cards.
a. Whist. the winning of all the tricks in a hand. Compare slam 2 (def. 1).
b. Casino. a pairing or combining, and hence taking, of all the cards on the board.
38. Physics. an irreversible process tending towards thermal equilibrium.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME swepen (v.); cf. OE geswēpa sweepings, deriv. of swāpan to sweep (> obs. E swope); c. G schweifen

Related forms:
sweep⋅a⋅ble, adjective
Sweeps
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sweep

2  [sweep] ,
–noun Slang.
a sweepstakes.
Also, sweeps.

Origin:
by shortening

end run

 
–noun
1. Football. Also called end sweep, sweep. a running play in which the ball-carrier attempts to outflank the defensive end.
2. Informal.
a. an evasive or diversionary maneuver.
b. an attempt to surmount a difficulty without confronting it directly.
Origin:
1900–05, Americanism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sweep
sweep   (swēp)   
v.   swept (swěpt), sweep·ing, sweeps

v.   tr.
  1. To clean or clear, as of dirt, with or as if with a broom or brush: sweep a chimney.
  2. To clear away with or as if with a broom or brush: swept snow from the steps.
  3. To clear (a path or space) with or as if with a broom.
    1. To search thoroughly: The counselors swept the dormitory during the fire drill.
    2. Electronics To search for and remove (eavesdropping devices) from a place: swept the room for bugs.
    3. To win all games in (a series) or stages of (a contest): swept the World Series.
    4. To win overwhelmingly in: The opposition party swept the election.
  5. To touch or brush lightly, as with a trailing garment: willow branches sweeping the ground.
  6. To pass over or through a surface or medium with a continuous movement: He swept the sponge over the tile. The conductor swept her baton through the air.
  7. To clear, drive, or convey with relentless force: The flood waters swept away everything in their path.
  8. To wipe out at a single stroke. Often used with away: The incident in effect swept away all her dreams.
  9. To remove or carry off with a swift brushing motion: swept the cards off the table; swept the child into his arms.
  10. To move across or through swiftly or with great intensity: News of the lunar landing swept the country.
  11. To pass quickly across, as when searching: His gaze swept the horizon.
  12. To drag the bottom of (a body of water).
    1. To win all games in (a series) or stages of (a contest): swept the World Series.
    2. To win overwhelmingly in: The opposition party swept the election.
v.   intr.
  1. To clean or clear a surface with or as if with a broom or brush.
  2. Electronics To search for and remove eavesdropping devices.
  3. To move swiftly with strong, steady force: The wind swept over the plain.
  4. To move swiftly in a lofty manner, as if in a trailing robe: She swept by in silence.
  5. To trail, as a long garment.
  6. To extend gracefully, especially in a long curve: The hills sweep down to the sea.
  7. To extend in a wide range: Searchlights swept across the sky.
n.  
  1. A clearing out or removal with or as if with a broom or brush.
  2. Electronics The act or an instance of searching for and removing eavesdropping devices, as in a room.
    1. A wide curving motion: a sweep of the arm.
    2. The range or scope encompassed by sweeping: the sweep of a lantern beam. See Synonyms at range.
    3. The winning of all stages of a game or contest.
    4. An overwhelming victory or success.
    5. sweeps The period each fall, winter, and spring when television ratings are accrued and studied and advertising rates are reset.
    6. The national survey of local stations that is conducted to determine these ratings.
  4. A broad reach or extent: a sweep of green lawn.
  5. A curve or contour: the sweep of her hair.
  6. Football An end run in which one or more linemen leave the line of scrimmage and block in advance of the ball carrier.
  7. One who sweeps, especially a chimney sweep.
  8. Sweepings. Often used in the plural.
    1. The winning of all stages of a game or contest.
    2. An overwhelming victory or success.
    3. sweeps The period each fall, winter, and spring when television ratings are accrued and studied and advertising rates are reset.
    4. The national survey of local stations that is conducted to determine these ratings.
  10. Nautical A long oar used to propel a boat.
  11. A long pole attached to a pivot and used to raise or lower a bucket in a well.
  12. sweeps (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Informal Sweepstakes.
    1. sweeps The period each fall, winter, and spring when television ratings are accrued and studied and advertising rates are reset.
    2. The national survey of local stations that is conducted to determine these ratings.
  14. Electronics The steady motion of an electron beam across a cathode-ray tube.

[Middle English swepen, perhaps from swepe, past tense of swopen, to sweep along; see swoop.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sweep

Sweep\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swept; p. pr. & vb. n. Sweeping.] [OE. swepen; akin to AS. sw[=a]pan. See Swoop, v. i.]

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. --Isa. xiv. 23.

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. --Isa. xxviii. 17.

I have already swept the stakes. --Dryden.

3. To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.

Their long descending train, With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain. --Dryden.

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. --Shak.

5. To strike with a long stroke.

Wake into voice each silent string, And sweep the sounding lyre. --Pope.

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, or sweep up, a mold (Founding), to form the sand into a mold by a templet, instead of compressing it around the pattern.

Sweep

Sweep\, v. i. 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.

Sweep

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. --Sir W. Scott.

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : sweep
Spanish: barrer,
German: kehren,
Japanese: 掃除する
More Translations »

sweep  (v.)
c.1300, perhaps from a past tense form of M.E. swope "sweep," from O.E. swapan "to sweep" (transitive & intransitive); see swoop. The noun meaning "range, extent" is attested from 1679; in ref. to police or military actions, it is attested from 1837. Sense of "a winning of all the tricks in a card game" is from 1814 (see sweepstakes); extended to other sports by 1960. As a shortened form of chimney-sweeper, first attested 1812.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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sweep

To automatically move cash balances into an interest-earning money market fund. Certain brokerage firms offer to perform this activity for some or all of their accounts.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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sweep

In addition to the idioms beginning with sweep, also see make a clean sweep; new broom sweeps clean; (sweep) off someone's feet.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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