sweep / swēp/ • v. (past swept / swept/ ) 1. [tr.] clean (an area) by brushing away dirt or litter: I've swept the floor Greg swept out the kitchen. ∎  [tr.] move or remove (dirt or litter) in such a way: she swept the tea leaves into a dustpan. ∎  [tr.] move or push (someone or something) with great force: I was swept along by the crowd. ∎  [tr.] brush (hair) back from one's face or upward: long hair swept up into a high chignon. ∎  search (an area) for something: the detective swept the room for hair and fingerprints. ∎  examine (a place or thing) for electronic listening devices: the line is swept every fifteen minutes. ∎  cover (an entire area) with a gun: they were trying to get the Lewis gun up behind some trees from where they would sweep the trench.2. [intr.] move swiftly and smoothly: a large black car swept past the open windows | fig. a wave of sympathy swept over him. ∎  [tr.] cause to move swiftly and smoothly: he swept his hand around the room. ∎  (of a person) move in a confident and stately manner: she swept magnificently from the hall. ∎  (of a geographical or natural feature) extend continuously in a particular direction, esp. in a curve: green forests swept down the hillsides. ∎  [tr.] look swiftly over: her eyes swept the room. ∎  affect (an area or place) swiftly and widely: violence swept the country | [intr.] the rebellion had swept through all four of the country's provinces. ∎  [tr.] win all the games in (a series); take each of the winning or main places in (a contest or event): we knew we had to sweep these three home games.• n. 1. an act of sweeping something with a brush: I was giving the floor a quick sweep. ∎ short for chimney sweep.2. a long, swift, curving movement: a grandiose sweep of his hand. ∎  a comprehensive search or survey of a place or area: the police finished their sweep through the woods. ∎  Electr. the movement of a beam across the screen of a cathode-ray tube. ∎  (often sweeps) a survey of the ratings of broadcast stations, carried out at regular intervals to determine advertising rates.3. a long, typically curved stretch of road, river, country, etc.: we could see a wide sweep of country perhaps a hundred miles across. ∎  a curved part of a drive in front of a building: one fork of the drive continued on to the gravel sweep. ∎ fig. the range or scope of something: the whole sweep of the history of the USSR.4. inf. a sweepstake.5. an instance of winning every event, award, or place in a contest: a World Series sweep.6. a long heavy oar used to row a barge or other vessel: [as adj.] a big, heavy sweep oar. 7. a sail of a windmill.8. a long pole mounted as a lever for raising buckets from a well.PHRASES: a clean sweepsee clean.sweep the board (or boards) win every event or prize in a contest.sweep someone off their feetsee foot.sweep something under the rug (or carpet) conceal or ignore a problem or difficulty in the hope that it will be forgotten.PHRASAL VERBS: sweep something away (or aside) remove, dispel, or abolish something in a swift and sudden way: Nahum's smile swept away the air of apprehensive gloom.