(v. i.) 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.
(v. i.) 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.
(v. i.) To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.
(v. i.) To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence, to carry in a stately or proud fashion.
(v. i.) To strike with a long stroke.
(v. i.) To draw or drag something over; as, to sweep the bottom of a river with a net.
(v. i.) To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation; as, to sweep the heavens with a telescope.
(v. i.) To clean rooms, yards, etc., or to clear away dust, dirt, litter, etc., with a broom, brush, or the like.
(v. i.) 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.
(v. i.) To pass over anything comprehensively; to range through with rapidity; as, his eye sweeps through space.
(n.) The act of sweeping.
(n.) The compass or range of a stroke; as, a long sweep.
(n.) The compass of any turning body or of any motion; as, the sweep of a door; the sweep of the eye.
(n.) The compass of anything flowing or brushing; as, the flood carried away everything within its sweep.
(n.) Violent and general destruction; as, the sweep of an epidemic disease.
(n.) Direction and extent of any motion not rectlinear; as, the sweep of a compass.
(n.) Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, or the like, away from a rectlinear line.
(n.) One who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, a chimney sweeper.
(n.) A movable templet for making molds, in loam molding.
(n.) 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.
(n.) A large oar used in small vessels, partly to propel them and partly to steer them.
(n.) The almond furnace.
(n.) 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.
(n.) 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.
(n.) The sweeping of workshops where precious metals are worked, containing filings, etc.
Example Sentences:
(1) Now, as the Senate takes up a weakened House bill along with the House's strengthened backdoor-proof amendment, it's time to put focus back on sweeping reform.
(2) One man has died in storms sweeping across the UK that have brought 100-mile-an-hour winds and led to more than 50 flood warnings being issued with widespread disruption on the road and rail networks in much of southern England and Scotland.
(3) That’s a criticism echoed by Democrats in the Senate, who issued a report earlier this month criticising Republicans for passing sweeping legislation in July to combat addiction , the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (Cara), but refusing to fund it.
(4) he asked in a low voice, referring to the Sunni insurgents sweeping across northern Iraq .
(5) The Florida senator on Wednesday signed on to legislation that would delay the implementation of the sweeping surveillance reforms passed by Congress under the USA Freedom Act.
(6) The building blocks were laid out in a sweeping document presented by Van Rompuy and colleagues earlier this week that included sharing debt in the form of jointly issued eurobonds.
(7) For once, however, Beckham's timing was out, and his tenure has seen the club win nothing, and a new regime led by austere Italian Fabio Capello sweep away the superstar culture.
(8) Behind the broad sweep of pessimism, it is worth thinking about how the "eurozone in crisis" story could eventually improve.
(9) As fighter jets screamed overhead and tanks churned up the sand, it looked and sounded like the violent protests sweeping the Middle East had spread to the wealthy emirate of Abu Dhabi.
(10) Compulsory national testing for four- and five-year-olds in England from 2016 is to be introduced as part of sweeping changes being proposed to early years and primary education.
(11) In addition, the sine-sweep responses show quite different frequency characteristics in respect of depolarization and repolarization.
(12) The sweeping proposals are a sizeable step up in scale and urgency for a mayor who has for years emphasised the threat climate change poses to the city, which has 520 miles of coastline.
(13) Blinded by a series of sweeping victories, he forgot that the public saw in him not only stability, but also a hope for decentralisation and redistribution of power.
(14) In post-spike averages of 1000-10,000 sweeps, no evidence of reflex excitation of the homonymous motoneurone pool was detected.
(15) In 11 cases, barium examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract revealed prominent filling defects in the duodenal bulb and the duodenal sweep.
(16) Tom Tobler, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "Gusts of 50mph to 60mph are sweeping across south-west England, central England and Wales, which will see the worst of the windy weather.
(17) Three US senators announced bills on Thursday that proposed the most sweeping structural changes to the secret court that oversees the legal basis for surveillance activities since it was set up 35 years ago.
(18) A "sweep" bend was incorporated to avoid unwanted side effects at the second premolar.
(19) However, the military remains unable to shift Isis from its strongholds or reverse the gains the group made during a stunning sweep through Mosul and Tikrit that continues to pose a grave threat to Iraq's borders.
(20) She may have her own reasons, but if this view takes hold, it will have sweeping implications.