sweep

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

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

   Please sweep the floor before the guests arrive.

2. 2
   verb

   To move quickly and powerfully across an area.

   The wind sweeps across the open plain.

3. 3
   verb

   To push or remove something quickly with a wide movement.

   She swept the crumbs off the table with her hand.

4. 4
   noun

   A wide curving movement or area.

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

Common collocations

• sweep the floor Verb + noun
• sweep over Verb + preposition/particle

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.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images