Sweeping

4 definitions found

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]:

  Sweeping \Sweep"ing\, a.
     Cleaning off surfaces, or cleaning away dust, dirt, or
     litter, as a broom does; moving with swiftness and force;
     carrying everything before it; including in its scope many
     persons or things; as, a sweeping flood; a sweeping majority;
     a sweeping accusation. -- {Sweep"ing*ly}, adv.
     -{Sweep"ing*ness}, n.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sweeping
       adj 1: taking in or moving over (or as if over) a wide area; often
              used in combination; "a sweeping glance"; "a
              wide-sweeping view of the river"
       2: ignoring distinctions; "sweeping generalizations";
          "wholesale destruction" [syn: {wholesale}]
       3: having broad range or effect; "had extensive press
          coverage"; "far-reaching changes in the social structure";
          "sweeping reforms" [syn: {extensive}, {far-reaching}]
       n : the act of cleaning with a broom

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

  163 Moby Thesaurus words for "sweeping":
     absolute, across the board, across-the-board, aleatoric, aleatory,
     all-comprehensive, all-embracing, all-encompassing, all-inclusive,
     all-out, all-pervading, amorphous, blanket, blobby, blurred,
     blurry, born, broad, broad-based, cataclysmic, catastrophic,
     catholic, chance, chancy, chaotic, clean, clear, coasting,
     compendious, complete, comprehensive, confused, congenital,
     consummate, debris, decisive, deep-dyed, diffuse, disordered,
     downright, dust, dyed-in-the-wool, egregious, encyclopedic,
     exhaustive, extensive, far-embracing, far-extending, far-flung,
     far-flying, far-going, far-ranging, far-reaching, flow, flowing,
     foggy, fuzzy, garbage, general, glide, gliding, global, hazy,
     hit-or-miss, ill-defined, imprecise, inaccurate, inchoate,
     incoherent, indecisive, indefinable, indefinite, indeterminable,
     indeterminate, indiscriminate, indistinct, inexact,
     insurrectionary, intensive, junk, large-scale, lax, liberal,
     litter, loose, nonspecific, obscure, omnibus, omnipresent,
     orderless, out-and-out, outright, over-all, overwhelming,
     panoramic, perfect, pervasive, plain, plumb, pure, radical, random,
     regular, revolutional, revolutionary, revulsionary, revulsive,
     rubbish, sailing, shadowed forth, shadowy, shapeless, sheer,
     skating, skiing, skim, sledding, slide, sliding, slipping, slither,
     slithering, stochastic, straight, sweep, synoptic, thorough,
     thoroughgoing, through-and-through, tobogganing, total,
     transilient, trash, ubiquitous, umbrella, unclear, unconditional,
     undefined, undestined, undetermined, universal, unmitigated,
     unplain, unqualified, unreserved, unrestricted, unspecified, utter,
     vague, veiled, veritable, waste, whole, wholesale, wide,
     wide-extended, wide-extending, wide-ranging, wide-reaching,
     wide-stretching, widespread, without exception, without omission