Definition: sweep

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

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: (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 a wide area;  "Rivers traverse the valley floor",
        "The parking lot spans 3 acres" [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]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

   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.

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

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.

            I will sweep it with the besom of destruction.
                                                  --Isa. xiv.
                                                  23.

   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.

            The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies. --Isa.
                                                  xxviii. 17.

            I have already swept the stakes.      --Dryden.

   3. To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.

            Their long descending train, With rubies edged and
            sapphires, swept the plain.           --Dryden.

   4. To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence,
      to carry in a stately or proud fashion.

            And like a peacock sweep along his tail. --Shak.

   5. To strike with a long stroke.

            Wake into voice each silent string, And sweep the
            sounding lyre.                        --Pope.

   6. (Naut.) To draw or drag something over; as, to sweep the
      bottom of a river with a net.

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

   To sweep, or sweep up, a mold (Founding), to form the
      sand into a mold by a templet, instead of compressing it
      around the pattern.

Sweep \Sweep\, n.
   1. The act of sweeping.

   2. The compass or range of a stroke; as, a long sweep.

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

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

   5. Violent and general destruction; as, the sweep of an
      epidemic disease.

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

   7. Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, or the
      like, away from a rectlinear line.

            The road which makes a small sweep.   --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.

   8. One who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, a chimney
      sweeper.

   9. (Founding) A movable templet for making molds, in loam
      molding.

   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.

   11. (Refining) The almond furnace. [Obs.]

   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.]

   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.

   14. pl. The sweeping of workshops where precious metals are
       worked, containing filings, etc.

   Sweep net, a net for drawing over a large compass.

   Sweep of the tiller (Naut.), a circular frame on which the
      tiller traverses.