1.  sweep(n = noun.attribute) expanse - a wide scope; "the sweep of the plains"
is a kind of ambit, compass, orbit, range, reach, scope
Derived forms verb sweep₅, verb sweep₈

2.  sweep(n = noun.person) chimneysweep, chimneysweeper - someone who cleans soot from chimneys;
is a kind of cleaner
Derived form verb sweep₆

3.  sweep(n = noun.event) slam - winning all or all but one of the tricks in bridge;
is a kind of triumph, victory
is a part of bridge
has particulars: grand slam, little slam, small slam

4.  sweep(n = noun.artifact) sweep oar - a long oar used in an open boat;
is a kind of oar

5.  sweep(n = noun.act) end run - (American football) an attempt to advance the ball by running around the end of the line;
is a kind of run, running, running game, running play

6.  sweep(n = noun.act) - a movement in an arc; "a sweep of his arm"
is a kind of motility, motion, move, movement
Derived forms verb sweep₉, verb sweep₂, verb sweep₁

1.  sweep(v = verb.motion) brush - sweep across or over; "Her long skirt brushed the floor"; "A gasp swept cross the audience"
is one way to move
Derived form noun sweep₆
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something; Something ----s somebody; Something ----s something

2.  sweep(v = verb.motion) sail - 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"
is one way to move
Derived form noun sweep₆
Sample sentences: Something is ----ing PP; Somebody ----s PP

3.  sweep(v = verb.contact) broom - sweep with a broom or as if with a broom; "Sweep the crumbs off the table"; "Sweep under the bed"
is one way to pass over, wipe
Derived forms noun sweeper₂, noun sweeper₁, noun sweeping₁
Sample sentences: Something is ----ing PP; Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something; Somebody ----s PP

4.  sweep(v = verb.stative) drag, drag in, embroil, sweep up, tangle - 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"
is one way to involve
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s somebody; Somebody ----s somebody PP

5.  sweep(v = verb.stative) cross, span, traverse - 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"
is one way to continue, cover, extend
Derived form noun sweep₁
Sample sentences: Something ----s something

6.  sweep(v = verb.contact) - clean by sweeping; "Please sweep the floor"
is one way to clean, make clean
Derived forms noun sweep₂, noun sweeper₂, noun sweeper₁, noun sweeping₁
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something

7.  sweep(v = verb.competition) - win an overwhelming victory in or on; "Her new show dog swept all championships"
is one way to win
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something

8.  sweep(v = verb.stative) - cover the entire range of;
is one way to continue, cover, extend
Derived form noun sweep₁
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something

9.  sweep(v = verb.contact) swing, swing out - make a big sweeping gesture or movement;
is one way to handle, manage, wield
Derived form noun sweep₆
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something; Somebody ----s something PP

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. [1913 Webster]
"I will sweep it with the besom of destruction." [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]
"The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies." [1913 Webster]
"I have already swept the stakes." [1913 Webster]

3.  To brush against or over; to rub lightly along. [1913 Webster]
"Their long descending train,
With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain." [1913 Webster]

4.  To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence, to carry in a stately or proud fashion. [1913 Webster]
"And like a peacock sweep along his tail." [1913 Webster]

5.  To strike with a long stroke. [1913 Webster]
"Wake into voice each silent string,
And sweep the sounding lyre." [1913 Webster]

6.  To draw or drag something over; as, to sweep the bottom of a river with a net. [1913 Webster]

7.  To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation; as, to sweep the heavens with a telescope. [1913 Webster]

1.  To clean rooms, yards, etc., or to clear away dust, dirt, litter, etc., with a broom, brush, or the like. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

3.  To pass over anything comprehensively; to range through with rapidity; as, his eye sweeps through space. [1913 Webster]

1.  The act of sweeping. [1913 Webster]

2.  The compass or range of a stroke; as, a long sweep. [1913 Webster]

3.  The compass of any turning body or of any motion; as, the sweep of a door; the sweep of the eye. [1913 Webster]

4.  The compass of anything flowing or brushing; as, the flood carried away everything within its sweep. [1913 Webster]

5.  Violent and general destruction; as, the sweep of an epidemic disease. [1913 Webster]

6.  Direction and extent of any motion not rectlinear; as, the sweep of a compass. [1913 Webster]

7.  Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, or the like, away from a rectlinear line. [1913 Webster]
"The road which makes a small sweep." [1913 Webster]

8.  One who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, a chimney sweeper. [1913 Webster]

9.  A movable templet for making molds, in loam molding. [1913 Webster]

10.  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. [1913 Webster]

11.  The almond furnace. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

13.  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. [1913 Webster]

14.  The sweeping of workshops where precious metals are worked, containing filings, etc. [1913 Webster]

sweep, v. & n.
--v. (past and past part. swept)
1 tr. clean or clear (a room or area etc.) with or as with a broom.
2 intr. (often foll. by up) clean a room etc. in this way.
3 tr. (often foll. by up) collect or remove (dirt or litter etc.) by sweeping.
4 tr. (foll. by aside, away, etc.) a push with or as with a broom. b dismiss or reject abruptly (their objections were swept aside).
5 tr. (foll. by along, down, etc.) carry or drive along with force.
6 tr. (foll. by off, away, etc.) remove or clear forcefully.
7 tr. traverse swiftly or lightly (the wind swept the hillside).
8 tr. impart a sweeping motion to (swept his hand across).
9 tr. swiftly cover or affect (a new fashion swept the country).
10 intr. a glide swiftly; speed along with unchecked motion. b go majestically.
11 intr. (of geographical features etc.) have continuous extent.
12 tr. drag (a river-bottom etc.) to search for something.
13 tr. (of artillery etc.) include in the line of fire; cover the whole of.
14 tr. propel (a barge etc.) with sweeps.
--n.
1 the act or motion or an instance of sweeping.
2 a curve in the road, a sweeping line of a hill, etc.
3 range or scope (beyond the sweep of the human mind).
4 = chimney-sweep.
5 a sortie by aircraft.
6 colloq. = SWEEPSTAKE.
7 a long oar worked from a barge etc.
8 the sail of a windmill.
9 a long pole mounted as a lever for raising buckets from a well.
10 Electronics the movement of a beam across the screen of a cathode-ray tube.

Idiom:
make a clean sweep of
1 completely abolish or expel.
2 win all the prizes etc. in (a competition etc.).
sweep away
1 abolish swiftly.
2 (usu. in passive) powerfully affect, esp. emotionally.
sweep the board
1 win all the money in a gambling-game.
2 win all possible prizes etc. sweep-second hand a second hand on a clock or watch, moving on the same dial as the other hands. sweep under the carpet see CARPET. swept-back (of an aircraft wing) fixed at an acute angle to the fuselage, inclining outwards towards the rear. swept-up (of hair) = UPSWEPT. swept-wing (of an aircraft) having swept-back wings.

Etymology:
ME swepe (earlier swope) f. OE swapan

N  cleanness, cleanliness, purity, cleaning, purification, defecation, purgation, lustration, detersion, abstersion, epuration, mundation, ablution, lavation, colature, disinfection, drainage, sewerage, lavatory, laundry, washhouse, washerwoman, laundress, dhobi, laundryman, washerman, scavenger, dustman, sweep, white wings brush, broom, besom, mop, rake, shovel, sieve, riddle, screen, filter, blotter, napkin, cloth, maukin, malkin, handkerchief, towel, sudary, doyley, doily, duster, sponge, mop, swab, cover, drugget, wash, lotion, detergent, cathartic, purgative, purifier, disinfectant, aperient, benzene, benzine benzol, benolin, bleaching powder, chloride of lime, dentifrice, deobstruent, laxative, clean, cleanly, pure, immaculate, spotless, stainless, taintless, trig, without a stain, unstained, unspotted, unsoiled, unsullied, untainted, uninfected, sweet, sweet as a nut, neat, spruce, tidy, trim, gimp, clean as a new penny, like a cat in pattens, cleaned, kempt, abstergent, cathartic, cleansing, purifying, neatly, clean as a whistle.

VB  be clean, render clean, clean, cleanse, mundify, rinse, wring, flush, full, wipe, mop, sponge, scour, swab, scrub, brush up, wash, lave, launder, buck, absterge, deterge, decrassify, clear, purify, depurate, despumate, defecate, purge, expurgate, elutriate, lixiviate, edulcorate, clarify, refine, rack, filter, filtrate, drain, strain, disinfect, fumigate, ventilate, deodorize, whitewash, castrate, emasculate, sift, winnow, pick, weed, comb, rake, brush, sweep, rout out, clear out, sweep out, make a clean sweep of.

N  uncleanness, impurity, immundity, immundicity, impurity, defilement, contamination, defoedation, soilure, soiliness, abomination, leaven, taint, tainture, fetor, decay, putrescence, putrefaction, corruption, mold, must, mildew, dry rot, mucor, rubigo, slovenry, slovenliness, squalor, dowdy, drab, slut, malkin, slattern, sloven, slammerkin, slammock, slummock, scrub, draggle-tail, mudlark, dust-man, sweep, beast, dirt, filth, soil, slop, dust, cobweb, flue, smoke, soot, smudge, smut, grit, grime, raff, sossle, sozzle, sordes, dregs, grounds, lees, argol, sediment, settlement heeltap, dross, drossiness, mother, precipitate, scoriae, ashes, cinders, recrement, slag, scum, froth, hogwash, ditchwater, dishwater, bilgewater, rinsings, cheeseparings, sweepings, offscourings, outscourings, off scum, caput mortuum, residuum, sprue, fecula, clinker, draff, scurf, scurfiness, exuviae, morphea, fur, furfur, dandruff, tartar, riffraff, vermin, louse, flea, bug, chinch, mud, mire, quagmire, alluvium, silt, sludge, slime, slush, slosh, sposh, spawn, offal, gurry, lientery, garbage, carrion, excreta, slough, peccant humor, pus, matter, suppuration, lienteria, faeces, feces, excrement, ordure, dung, crap, shit, sewage, sewerage, muck, coprolite, guano, manure, compost, dunghill, colluvies, mixen, midden, bog, laystall, sink, privy, jakes, toilet, john, head, cess, cesspool, sump, sough, cloaca, latrines, drain, sewer, common sewer, Cloacina, dust hole, sty, pigsty, lair, den, Augean stable, sink of corruption, slum, rookery, dirty, filthy, grimy, unclean, impure, soiled, not to be handled with kid gloves, dusty, snuffy, smutty, sooty, smoky, thick, turbid, dreggy, slimy, mussy, slovenly, untidy, messy, uncleanly, unkempt, sluttish, dowdy, draggle-tailed, uncombed, unscoured, unswept, unwiped, unwashed, unstrained, unpurified, squalid, lutose, slammocky, slummocky, sozzly, nasty, coarse, foul, offensive, abominable, beastly, reeky, reechy, fetid, decayed, moldy, musty, mildewed, rusty, moth-eaten, mucid, rancid, weak, bad, gone bad, etercoral, lentiginous, touched, fusty, effete, reasty, rotten, corrupt, tainted, high, flyblown, maggoty, putrid, putrefactive, putrescent, putrefied, saprogenic, saprogenous, purulent, carious, peccant, fecal, feculent, stercoraceous, excrementitious, scurfy, scurvy, impetiginous, gory, bloody, rotting, rotten as a pear, rotten as cheese, crapulous, gross, fimetarious, fimicolous, they that touch pitch will be defiled.

VB  steal, thieve, rob, mug, purloin, pilfer, filch, prig, bag, nim, crib, cabbage, palm, abstract, appropriate, plagiarize, convey away, carry off, abduct, kidnap, crimp, make off with, walk off with, run off with, run away with, spirit away, seize, plunder, pillage, rifle, sack, loot, ransack, spoil, spoliate, despoil, strip, sweep, gut, forage, levy blackmail, pirate, pickeer, maraud, lift cattle, poach, smuggle, run, badger, bail up, hold up, stick up, bunco, bunko, filibuster, swindle, peculate, embezzle, sponge, mulct, rook, bilk, pluck, pigeon, fleece, defraud, obtain under false pretenses, live by one's wits, rob Peter to pay Paul, borrow of Peter to pay Paul, set a thief to catch a thief, disregard the distinction between meum and tuum, fence, launder, launder money.

N  space, extension, extent, superficial extent, expanse, stretch, hyperspace, room, scope, range, field, way, expansion, compass, sweep, swing, spread, dimension, length, distance, size, volume, hypervolume, latitude, play, leeway, purchase, tolerance, room for maneuver, spare room, elbow room, house room, stowage, roomage, margin, opening, sphere, arena, open space, free space, void, waste, wildness, wilderness, moor, moorland, campagna, abyss, unlimited space, infinity, world, ubiquity, length and breadth of the land, proportions, acreage, acres, acres and perches, roods and perches, hectares, square miles, square inches, square yards, square centimeters, square meters, yards (clothing), ares, arpents, spacious, roomy, extensive, expansive, capacious, ample, widespread, vast, world-wide, uncircumscribed, boundless, shoreless, trackless, pathless, extended, extensively, wherever, everywhere, far and near, far and wide, right and left, all over, all the world over, throughout the world, throughout the length and breadth of the land, under the sun, in every quarter, in all quarters, in all lands, here there and everywhere, from pole to pole, from China to Peru, from Indus to the pole, from Dan to Beersheba, from end to end, on the face of the earth, in the wide world, from all points of the compass, to the four winds, to the uttermost parts of the earth.

N  curvature, curvity, curvation, incurvature, incurvity, incurvation, bend, flexure, flexion, flection, conflexure, crook, hook, bought, bending, deflection, deflexion, inflection, inflexion, concameration, arcuation, devexity, turn, deviation, detour, sweep, curl, curling, bough, recurvity, recurvation, sinuosity, kink, carve, arc, arch, arcade, vault, bow, crescent, half-moon, lunule, horseshoe, loop, crane neck, parabola, hyperbola, helix, spiral, catenary, festoon, conchoid, cardioid, caustic, tracery, arched ceiling, arched roof, bay window, bow window, sine curve, spline, spline curve, spline function, obliquity, curved, curviform, curvilineal, curvilinear, devex, devious, recurved, recurvous, crump, bowed, vaulted, hooked, falciform, falcated, semicircular, crescentic, sinusoid, parabolic, paraboloid, luniform, lunular, semilunar, conchoidal, helical, double helical, spiral, kinky, cordiform, cordated, cardioid, heart shaped, bell shaped, boat shaped, crescent shaped, lens shaped, moon shaped, oar shaped, shield shaped, sickle shaped, tongue shaped, pear shaped, fig shaped, kidney-shaped, reniform, lentiform, lenticular, bow-legged, oblique, circular, aduncated, arclike, arcuate, arched, beaked, bicorn, bicornuous, bicornute, clypeate, clypeiform, cymbiform, embowed, galeiform, hamate, hamiform, hamous, hooked, linguiform, lingulate, lobiform, lunate, navicular, peltate, remiform, rhamphoid, rostrate, rostriferous, rostroid, scutate, scaphoid, uncate, unguiculate, unguiform.

VB  be curved curve, sweep, sway, swag, sag, deviate, curl, turn, reenter, render curved, flex, bend, curve, incurvate, inflect, deflect, scatter, refract (light), crook, turn, round, arch, arcuate, arch over, concamerate, bow, curl, recurve, frizzle, rotundity, convexity.

VB  move quickly, trip, fisk, speed, hie, hasten, post, spank, scuttle, scud, scuddle, scour, scour the plain, scamper, run like mad, beat it, fly, race, run a race, cut away, shot, tear, whisk, zoom, swoosh, sweep, skim, brush, cut along, bowl along, barrel along, barrel, scorch, burn up the track, rush, dash on, dash off, dash forward, bolt, trot, gallop, amble, troll, bound, flit, spring, dart, boom, march in quick time, march in double time, ride hard, get over the ground, hurry, accelerate, put on, quicken, quicken one's pace, mend one's pace, clap spurs to one's horse, make haste, make rapid strides, make forced marches, make the best of one's way, put one's best leg foremost, stir one's stumps, wing one's way, set off at a score, carry sail, crowd sail, go off like a shot, go like a shot, go ahead, gain ground, outstrip the wind, fly on the wings of the wind, keep up with, keep pace with, outstrip, outmarch.

N  deviation, swerving, obliquation, warp, refraction, flection, flexion, sweep, deflection, deflexure, declination, diversion, digression, depart from, aberration, divergence, zigzag, detour, divagation, wandering, vagrancy, evagation, bypaths and crooked ways, byroad, sidling, knight's move at chess, deviating, aberrant, errant, excursive, discursive, devious, desultory, loose, rambling, stray, erratic, vagrant, undirected, circuitous, indirect, zigzag, crab-like, astray from, round about, wide of the mark, to the right about, all manner of ways, circuitously, obliquely, sideling, like the move of the knight on a chessboard.

clean sweep, sweep away, sweep hand, sweep oar, sweep off, sweep out, sweep over, sweep through, sweep under the rug, sweep up