Sweep

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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     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.
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     3. To pass over anything comprehensively; to range through
        with rapidity; as, his eye sweeps through space.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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              I will sweep it with the besom of destruction.
                                                    --Isa. xiv.
                                                    23.
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     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.
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              The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies. --Isa.
                                                    xxviii. 17.
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              I have already swept the stakes.      --Dryden.
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     3. To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.
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              Their long descending train,
              With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain.
                                                    --Dryden.
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     4. To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence,
        to carry in a stately or proud fashion.
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              And like a peacock sweep along his tail. --Shak.
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     5. To strike with a long stroke.
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              Wake into voice each silent string,
              And sweep the sounding lyre.          --Pope.
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     6. (Naut.) To draw or drag something over; as, to sweep the
        bottom of a river with a net.
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     7. To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an
        instrument of observation; as, to sweep the heavens with a
        telescope.
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     {To sweep a mold} or {To sweep up a mold} (Founding), to form
        the sand into a mold by a templet, instead of compressing
        it around the pattern.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sweep \Sweep\, n.
     1. The act of sweeping.
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     2. The compass or range of a stroke; as, a long sweep.
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     3. The compass of any turning body or of any motion; as, the
        sweep of a door; the sweep of the eye.
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     4. The compass of anything flowing or brushing; as, the flood
        carried away everything within its sweep.
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     5. Violent and general destruction; as, the sweep of an
        epidemic disease.
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     6. Direction and extent of any motion not rectlinear; as, the
        sweep of a compass.
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     7. Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, or the
        like, away from a rectlinear line.
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              The road which makes a small sweep.   --Sir W.
                                                    Scott.
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     8. One who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, a chimney
        sweeper.
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     9. (Founding) A movable templet for making molds, in loam
        molding.
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     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.
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     11. (Refining) The almond furnace. [Obs.]
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     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}.]
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     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.
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     14. pl. The sweeping of workshops where precious metals are
         worked, containing filings, etc.
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     {Sweep net}, a net for drawing over a large compass.
  
     {Sweep of the tiller} (Naut.), a circular frame on which the
        tiller traverses.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sweep
       n 1: a wide scope; "the sweep of the plains" [syn: {expanse}]
       2: someone who cleans soot from chimneys [syn: {chimneysweeper},
           {chimneysweep}]
       3: winning all or all but one of the tricks in bridge [syn: {slam}]
       4: a long oar used in an open boat [syn: {sweep oar}]
       5: (American football) an attempt to advance the ball by
          running around the end of the line [syn: {end run}]
       6: a movement in an arc; "a sweep of his arm"
       v 1: sweep across or over; "Her long skirt brushed the floor"; "A
            gasp swept cross the audience" [syn: {brush}]
       2: 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" [syn: {sail}]
       3: sweep with a broom or as if with a broom; "Sweep the crumbs
          off the table"; "Sweep under the bed" [syn: {broom}]
       4: 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" [syn: {embroil}, {tangle}, {sweep up},
           {drag}, {drag in}]
       5: 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" [syn: {cross}, {traverse},
           {span}]
       6: clean by sweeping; "Please sweep the floor"
       7: win an overwhelming victory in or on; "Her new show dog
          swept all championships"
       8: cover the entire range of
       9: make a big sweeping gesture or movement [syn: {swing}, {swing
          out}]
       [also: {swept}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  435 Moby Thesaurus words for "sweep":
     Derby, Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, S-curve, aberrancy,
     aberration, advance, airscape, ambit, arc, arch, ball the jack,
     barrel, be effortless, be painless, bend, bend back, bending, bias,
     bingo, boom, bow, bowing, bowl, bowl along, branching off, breeze,
     breeze along, broom, brush, brush by, brush off, bunt, butt, carry,
     cascade, cataract, chase, chimney sweep, circle, circuitousness,
     cityscape, class lottery, clean, cleanser, clear, clear sight,
     clearance, clip, cloudscape, coast, coasting, color vision,
     compass, cone vision, conflexure, corner, course, cover, crook,
     crossing sweeper, curl, curvature, curve, cut along, dash,
     day vision, daylight vision, declination, decurve, deflect,
     deflection, deluge, demolish, departure, depredate, despoil,
     destroy, detour, deviance, deviancy, deviation, deviousness,
     diapason, digression, discernment, discursion, divagation,
     divarication, divergence, diversion, do, dogleg, dome, double,
     draft lottery, drawing, drift, drifting, drive, embow, encompass,
     engulf, environ, errantry, excursion, excursus, exorbitation,
     extend, extension, extent, eye, eye-mindedness, eyesight, farsight,
     farsightedness, field of view, field of vision, flat race,
     flection, fleece, fleet, flex, flexure, flit, flood, flounce, flow,
     flowing, flue cleaner, fly, fly low, foot, forage, foray, forward,
     freeboot, gamut, geanticline, geosyncline, give no trouble, glance,
     glide, gliding, glissade, go, go easily, go fast,
     go like clockwork, go out, go over, grab bag, graze, gut, hairpin,
     hairpin turn, handicap, handicap race, harness race, highball,
     hold, home on, hook, horizon, horse race, hump, hunch, hurdle race,
     ice-skate, identify, impel, incurvate, incurve, indirection,
     inflect, inflection, interest lottery, inundate, keen sight, ken,
     keno, kiss, landscape, lie, lookout, loop, loot, lottery, lotto,
     make knots, map, maraud, march, meander, measure, move,
     night vision, nip, number lottery, numbers pool, oar, obliquity,
     orbit, outlook, outstrip the wind, overbrim, overflow, overpass,
     overrun, overwhelm, oxbow, paddle, panorama, parade, pass,
     pass over, pass through, patrol, pedal, perambulate, perception,
     peregrinate, pererrate, pererration, peripheral field,
     peripheral vision, perspective, perspicacity, perspicuity,
     photopia, pick up, pillage, pinpoint, plate race, plunder, ply,
     pole, pour it on, pour out, pour over, power of sight,
     present no difficulties, prey on, propel, prospect, purge,
     purse race, purview, push, quarter-horse race, quick sight, radius,
     raffle, raid, rambling, range, range over, ransack, ravage, raven,
     ravish, reach, reach out, receive, reconnoiter, recurve, reflect,
     reflection, reflex, register, reive, remove, retroflex, rifle, rip,
     riverscape, rod vision, roll, roller-skate, round, row, run,
     run over, run smoothly, sack, sag, sail, sailing, scale, scan,
     scape, scavenger, scene, scenery, scenic view, scope, scorch,
     scotopia, scour, scour the country, scout, scrape, scull, seascape,
     seeing, sense of sight, sheer, shift, shifting, shifting course,
     shifting path, shove, shunt, sideslip, sight, sightedness, sizzle,
     skate, skateboard, skating, skew, ski, skid, skiing, skim,
     skyscape, slant, sled, sledding, sleigh, slide, sliding, slip,
     slipping, slither, slithering, slop, slosh, span, spectrum, speed,
     spill, spill out, spill over, spoil, spoliate, spot, spread, stake,
     stake race, steeplechase, steering oar, storm along, straddle,
     straying, street sweeper, stretch, stretch out, stroke, submerge,
     surround, swag, swamp, sweep along, sweep away, sweep out,
     sweep up, sweeper, sweeping, sweepstake, sweepstakes, swerve,
     swerving, swing, swinging, swoop, tack, take in, tear, tear along,
     thrust, thrust out, thunder along, tidy up, toboggan, tobogganing,
     tombola, tontine, touch lightly, touch upon, townscape, track,
     transit, travel over, travel through, traverse, treadle, trigger,
     troll, trotting race, trundle, tune in, turn, turning,
     twilight vision, twist, unobstructed vision, vacuum, vacuum-clean,
     variation, vault, veer, view, vision, vista, visual acuity,
     visual field, visual sense, voyage, wandering, warp, waterscape,
     whelm, whisk, whitewing, whiz, wind, wing, wipe out, work well,
     yaw, zigzag, zing, zip, zoom