Sweep

Related topics: Cleaning, Occupations

sweep2 noun [countableC]

1 MOVE something OR somebodya long swinging movement of your arm, a weapon etc 挥动

2 [usually singular] British EnglishBrEDHC the act of cleaning a room with a long-handled brush 打扫，清扫

3 the sweep of something

Examples from the Corpus

wide sweep• Jimmy made a wide sweep of the littered clearing, finding his own kind of kindling.• I counted more than 30 tufted ducks while at least 80 mallards were making wide sweeps round the pond before resettling.• Cut to the wide sweep of Hampstead Heath.

4 [usually singular]LOOK FORATTACK a search or attack that moves over a large area 〔大面积的〕搜索，搜查；扫荡

5. the sweeps (also sweeps month/period) American EnglishAmE a period of time during the year when television stations try to find out which shows are the most popular 电视收视率测定期

6. American EnglishAmE a series of several games that one team wins against another team 〔比赛的〕连胜，全胜

7. BODHCa chimney sweep 烟囱清扫工

→ clean sweep at clean1(14)

Examples from the Corpus

sweep• You couldn't bear the thought of a chit of a girl sweeping in and scooping the jackpot.• He kind of swept me off my feet.• Phillario has already wished that the rain would sweep Mira away, and now Corydon is intent on getting rid of weeds.• Strong waves swept the boy out into the surf.• Linda swept the coins into her purse.• The Democrats had swept the fall elections and were about to take control of the Senate.• When everyone had left, Ed swept the floor.• I just finished sweeping the kitchen floor.• Just ask the experts, the cops who sweep them up afterward.• Can you help me sweep up all the pieces of glass?• While the keen amateurs struggle with maggots and nets on the bank ... these professionals cruise by sweeping up.

sweep through/along etc• The line will sweep through a plane, and the circles will sweep through spheres.• The wind sweeps through and the hunched wolf shivers.• He had been swept along by Tommy's drunken madness.• Hundreds of local Dayaks have been sweeping through the city of Palangkaraya looking for settlers from the island of Madura.• I had made up my mind at the Scenic Overlook to make a clean sweep through the house.• The week before, a monsoonal deluge had swept through the river valley.• The flood exploded into the Santa Clara River, turned right, and swept through the valley toward the ocean.• The sunlight glimmered off these blades and when the sea breeze swept through they rippled like sequins on a party dress.

sweep across/through etc• The line will sweep through a plane, and the circles will sweep through spheres.• Relief swept through her, followed immediately by anger.• Any dust or dirt was simply swept through the cracks and fell on the livestock below.• I had made up my mind at the Scenic Overlook to make a clean sweep through the house.• It was 1964, the civil rights movement was sweeping across the land, all the way into the halls of Congress.• The wind sighed again as it swept through the ruined temple, and a little shudder went through Caroline.• The sunlight glimmered off these blades and when the sea breeze swept through they rippled like sequins on a party dress.

sweep into/through etc• The line will sweep through a plane, and the circles will sweep through spheres.• Relief swept through her, followed immediately by anger.• She seldom would merely walk into our class but seemed always to sweep into it.• Accelerating down Goodwood's pit straight and sweeping into Madgwick Corner in this car is enough to convince you of that.• These chunks were swept into the entrance of the Niagara River, where the current bore them downstream.• When you sweep through the house guzzling gin.• The mess of pizza fragments, uneaten chips, beer-cans, papers, had been swept into the litter bin.

swept into office• In addition to winning the presidency Carey also swept into office with him every member of his reformist slate of candidates.

sweep down/along etc• Had he merely been swept along by the force of her own impulsive feelings?• He had been swept along by Tommy's drunken madness.• Maggie came upon a pile of massive boulders, which had been swept down off the hills.• He is sweeping along on a tide of revisionism.• He swept down the gorge, circled round, and made a second pass at the Falls to lose altitude.• Characters made their entrances from the two lifts and swept down the stairs to their appointed places.• As we swept down to the seam in the old iron lift we all grabbed each other's hands in simultaneous panic.• A thick hedge shielded her from the field which swept down towards the foot of the embankment.

sweep over/across/around etc• As he got closer I could hear his breathing as well, and I saw his pink tongue sweep across his lips.• But on my way down the stairs, guilt sweeps over me.• The joy of having the upper hand swept over me.• A polar airstream has swept across the country on strong north-westerly winds.• The armies of Chaos had overrun Kislev and looked set to sweep over the lands of men.• But as they slept, a thunderstorm swept over the pass.• I turned in my chair to watch Tamar sweep across the room in her silk pyjamas.• Darren Sadler, 25, from Cleveleys Lancs was killed when he was swept over the sea wall in Blackpool.

Sweepn

n1. → see Sooty and Sweep

Examples from the Corpus

sweep• Police made a sweep of the area to arrest drug dealers.• This really means cutting in angled sweeps, allowing the double blade to cut on the forward and return arc.• Neighbors had complained that months went by and one never saw a chimney sweep.• Nevertheless, a foot sweep does require a lot of power to prevent it from degenerating into no more than a shin attack.• The Giants completed their four-game sweep of Atlanta.• The whale swam away with great sweeps of its tail.• I felt the slow sweep of geologic time.• A good deal of that has changed in the sweep of less than 100 years.• The sweep of the court's decision could affect all car manufacturers.• The sweep into Putumayo promises equally dire consequences.

make ... sweep• Our company makes sweeps from the base, staying in the field for four, five days.• He made a sweeping gesture at the microphones, cameras and reporters.• It is this convergence of class, gender, and race that makes a sweeping attack on one segment of society possible.• Before we set up for the night, we made a sweep of the entire area.

Origin sweep1

(1200-1300) Probably from sweop, the past tense of Old English swapan “to sweep”

sweep1 verb

→10-16

→n GRAMMAR1 →PHRASAL VERBS1sweep2 nounSweepn

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