sweep
To clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush.
Verb 4 meanings
To clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush.
“to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney”
To move through a (horizontal) arc or similar long stroke.
“The wind sweeps across the plain.”
To search (a place) methodically.
To travel quickly.
Noun 4 meanings
A single action of sweeping.
“Give the front steps a quick sweep to get rid of those fallen leaves.”
The person who steers a dragon boat.
A person who stands at the stern of a surf boat, steering with a steering oar and commanding the crew.
A chimney sweep.
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).
Similar and opposite words
SWEEP at a glance
SWEEP has 5 letters and scores 10 points in Scrabble (S 1 + W 4 + E 1 + E 1 + P 3) and 11 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #7,392 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with sweep
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