noun
- The act of cleaning with a broom.
verb
- Sweep across or over.
- usage: "Her long skirt brushed the floor"; "A gasp swept cross the audience"
- Move with sweeping, effortless, gliding motions.
- usage: "The diva swept into the room"; "Shreds of paper sailed through the air"; "The searchlights swept across the sky"
- Sweep with a broom or as if with a broom.
- usage: "Sweep the crumbs off the table"; "Sweep under the bed"
- Force into some kind of situation, condition, or course of action.
- usage: "They were swept up by the events"; "don't drag me into this business"
- To cover or extend over an area or time period.
- usage: "Rivers traverse the valley floor, "The parking lot spans 3 acres"; "The novel spans three centuries"
- Clean by sweeping.
- usage: "Please sweep the floor"
- synonyms: sweep
- Win an overwhelming victory in or on.
- usage: "Her new show dog swept all championships"
- synonyms: sweep
- Cover the entire range of.
- synonyms: sweep
- Make a big sweeping gesture or movement.
adjective
- Taking in or moving over (or as if over) a wide area; often used in combination.
- usage: "a sweeping glance"; "a wide-sweeping view of the river"
- Ignoring distinctions.
- usage: "sweeping generalizations"; "wholesale destruction"
- synonyms: wholesale
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). sweeping. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/sweeping/definitions/1184891 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "sweeping" http://smartdefine.org/sweeping/definitions/1184891 (accessed September 22, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, sweeping, Smart Define, viewed 22 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/sweeping/definitions/1184891>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "sweeping" 23 October 2010. Web. 22 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/sweeping/definitions/1184891> |