sweep

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“
A taxi driver caught in a sweep is an enemy combatant, but a drone shooting missiles under remote control is no more aggression than shooting a Mexican across the border.

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Definitions (109)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (40)

  1. transitive verb To clean or clear, as of dirt, with or as if with a broom or brush: sweep a chimney.
  2. transitive verb To clear away with or as if with a broom or brush: swept snow from the steps.
  3. transitive verb To clear (a path or space) with or as if with a broom.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (51)

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Examples (50)

  • You'll enjoy the same super wide sweet-sweep, the same deep, clean bass (mostly cabinet dependent) and the same extended, sweet treble to beyond 20,000 Hz (mostly super-tweeter dependent). —  Audiophile Audition Headlines
  • According to Oswego police, the sweep was a direct result of an "intensified investigation" conducted by the department, in cooperation with the New York State Police's Community Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET). —  The Palladium-Times Homepage RSS
  • In fact, we track not only the first click but every other click by that member if the sweep is a daily entry type.
  • District Attorney Richard Consiglio said the sweep was the culmination of six months of investigation by the Blair County Drug Task Force. —  The Altoona Mirror
  • Look a sweep was an unrealistic expectation by us Met fans and even though BMF mentioned how sweet it'd be I didn't really expect to take all 3 from the Phils. —  Brooklyn Met Fan
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This word has been looked up 152 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

wave ·  stroke ·  stretch ·  rush ·  beat ·  burst ·  curve ·  motion ·  swing ·  thrust ·  slope ·  rise

Used in the same contextWord Family

sweep:   sweeps ·  swept ·  sweeping
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English swepen, perhaps from swepe, past tense of swopen, to sweep along; see swoop.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also swepe; from Middle English swepen (preterit swepte), from Anglo-Saxon *swǣpan (preterit *swǣpte), a secondary form of swāpan (preterit sweóp), sweep; = OFries. swepa = Low German swepen, sweep (with a broom), = Old High German sweifan, Middle High German sweifen, German schweifen, intransitive slip, sweep, ramble, etc., transitive sweep, turn, = Icelandic sveipa, sweep, swoop; cf. swape, swipe, swoop. The forms and senses are much involved, and the verb is now usually treated as if meaning primarily ‘sweep with a broom.’
  2. Early modern English also swepe; = Old High German Middle High German sweif, German schweif, a ramble, = Icelandic sveipr, a fold, swoop, twirl; from the verb.
 

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/swip/
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