(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.
Sweeper
Definition:
(n.) One who, or that which, sweeps, or cleans by sweeping; a sweep; as, a carpet sweeper.
Example Sentences:
(1) There is no graffiti and no rubbish, because a street sweeper is using a machine to blow leaves into piles.
(2) According to the occupation registered on their licence, the 6630 drivers were distributed into three groups: (1) professional drivers (n = 1726), (2) non-professional drivers "more exposed" to exhaust gas and fumes (this group included occupations such as vehicle mechanic, policeman, road sweeper; n = 712), and (3) non-professional drivers "less exposed," composed of all other occupations (n = 4192).
(3) Wright was not used as a sweeper but rather as a spare man in a flat back four.
(4) In the Barbara Vine book, The Chimney Sweeper’s Boy (1998), the death of a leading author, Gerard Candless, leads to the discovery that almost every detail of his life had been a fiction.
(5) Comparisons between indoor aspirator catches and outdoor mechanical sweeper collections enabled mosquito resting habits to be classified as: (1) endophilic (Anopheles culicifacies, An.
(6) What can I do?” The street sweeper demanded 75 Turkish lira and pointed to a small hole in the fence, not far from the main gate.
(7) We present a case of occupation-related carcinoma of the scrotum (chimney sweeper's disease) in a black man.
(8) Thanks to Manuel Neuer the era of “sweeper-keepers”, boasting strong lines in fancy footwork, is upon us.
(9) He was credited with developing the "sweeper-keeper" style of play, when a keeper acts as an extra defender when needed.
(10) He set about interviewing the crossing-sweepers, Punch and Judy entertainers, sandwich-sellers, rag-gatherers, rat-killers, doll's-eye makers, thieves, prostitutes, beggars, and all the other pieces of human flotsam and jetsam that had washed up in the capital.
(11) As a goalkeeper, he was ahead of his time, operating not only with athleticism and anticipation in the goal itself, but always ready to act as a kind of sweeper if his defence were breached, dashing well beyond his penalty area to kick the ball clear.
(12) This study intends to identify the occupational risks that the street sweepers are exposed by handling diary with the urban trash.
(13) Road sweepers, street cleaners all deserve a decent home, they certainly don’t deserve to be priced out of council property.
(14) Until we have a rainfall, or the city’s huge street sweeper mob arrive, you often find dust particles in your eyes and mouth.
(15) The ball came to the sweeper Augenthaler, who flipped an inviting angled pass over the top.
(16) "It is not men who immigrate but machine-minders, sweepers, diggers, cement mixers, cleaners, drillers, etc," writes Berger beneath a picture of two officials looking out over hundreds of workers at a recruitment centre in Istanbul.
(17) Other street cleaners are self-employed: street sweepers who move round after the dustmen work for tips from local residents, and bottle collectors make a living – just about – by selling on plastic bottles for recycling.
(18) The man glanced around uneasily, and finally approached a street sweeper in a blue jumpsuit.
(19) Measurements performed on 176 subjects, without isolating them from day-to-day work, showed 220Rn levels having a median of 0.74 Bq, with the group consisting of sweepers and helpers showing the highest average level (1.68 Bq).
(20) That means the extra defensive cover of a sweeper system and just one change from the side that started against Cameroon: Peter Beardsley for the injured John Barnes.