sweep

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /swip/ UK /swiːp/ See IPA manual

Freq #4942

Meanings

1

verb
To clean a floor or surface using a broom or brush.

Please sweep the floor before the guests arrive.
2

verb
To move quickly and powerfully across an area.

The wind sweeps across the open plain.
3

verb
To push or remove something quickly with a wide movement.

She swept the crumbs off the table with her hand.
4

noun
A wide curving movement or area.

With a single sweep of his arm, he cleared the desk.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with sweep

sweep over Prepositional verb B2

to affect someone suddenly and strongly, especially with an emotion

Thesaurus

Synonyms

4 noun · a wide curving movement or... expanse

Word family

Forms sweepingsweepsswept

Derived forms asweepdownsweepinsweepoutsweepslog-sweepsweep-chimneysweep-washersweepersweepstakesweepyupsweep

Appears in

Phrases (2)

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Idioms (1)

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sweep the board
To win every available prize or category in a competition.

Proverbs (1)

See all

A new broom sweeps clean

Etymology

From Middle English swepen, from Proto-West Germanic *swaipijan (unattested in Old English), from Proto-Germanic *swaipijaną. Cognate with Early Modern West Frisian swiepe (“whip, cleanse, sweep”), from Old Frisian swēpa, suepa (“sweep”). More distantly related to Old Norse sveipa (whence Swedish svepa). See also swoop.

swepen Middle English *swaipijan Proto-West Germanic *swaipijaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

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# sweep

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /swip/
**IPA (UK):** /swiːp/
**Frequency rank:** 4942

## Meanings
1. To clean a floor or surface using a broom or brush.
2. To move quickly and powerfully across an area.
3. To push or remove something quickly with a wide movement.
4. A wide curving movement or area.

## Examples
- Please sweep the floor before the guests arrive.
- The wind sweeps across the open plain.
- She swept the crumbs off the table with her hand.
- With a single sweep of his arm, he cleared the desk.

## Derived Forms
- asweep
- downsweep
- insweep
- outsweep
- slog-sweep
- sweep-chimney
- sweep-washer
- sweeper
- sweepstake
- sweepy
- upsweep

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: swepen
- Root: *swaipijan
- Root: *swaipijaną

## Etymology
From Middle English swepen, from Proto-West Germanic *swaipijan (unattested in Old English), from Proto-Germanic *swaipijaną. Cognate with Early Modern West Frisian swiepe (“whip, cleanse, sweep”), from Old Frisian swēpa, suepa (“sweep”). More distantly related to Old Norse sveipa (whence Swedish svepa). See also swoop.

## AI Etymology
Sweep is from Middle English swepen, from Proto-West Germanic *swaipijan (unattested in Old English), from Proto-Germanic *swaipijaną. Cognate with Early Modern West Frisian swiepe (“whip, cleanse, sweep”), from Old Frisian swēpa, suepa (“sweep”). More distantly related to Old Norse sveipa (whence Swedish svepa). See also swoop. In present-day use, it can mean to clean a floor or surface using a broom or brush, or to move quickly and powerfully across an area.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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sweep

Meanings

Verb forms

Multiword verbs with sweep

Thesaurus

Appears in

Phrases (2)

Idioms (1)

Proverbs (1)

Etymology

Topics

External links

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