SWEEP

To pass a broom across (a surface) so as to remove loose dirt, dust, etc.; to brush, or rub over, with a broom for the purpose of cleaning; as, to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney. Used also figuratively. I will sweep it with the besom of destruction. Isa. xiv. 23.

To drive or carry along or off with a broom or a brush, or as if with a broom; to remove by, or as if by, brushing; as, to sweep dirt from a floor; the wind sweeps the snow from the hills; a freshet sweeps away a dam, timber, or rubbish; a pestilence sweeps off multitudes. The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies. Isa. xxviii. 17. I have already swept the stakes. Dryden.

To brush against or over; to rub lightly along. Their long descending train, With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain. Dryden.

To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence, to carry in a stately or proud fashion. And like a peacock sweep along his tail. Shak.

To strike with a long stroke. Wake into voice each silent string, And sweep the sounding lyre. Pope.

To draw or drag something over; as, to sweep the bottom of a river with a net.

To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation; as, to sweep the heavens with a telescope. To sweep, or sweep up, a mold (Founding), to form the sand into a mold by a templet, instead of compressing it around the pattern.

To clean rooms, yards, etc., or to clear away dust, dirt, litter, etc., with a broom, brush, or the like.

To brush swiftly over the surface of anything; to pass with switness and force, as if brushing the surface of anything; to move in a stately manner; as, the wind sweeps across the plain; a woman sweeps through a drawing-room.

To pass over anything comprehensively; to range through with rapidity; as, his eye sweeps through space.

The act of sweeping.

The compass or range of a stroke; as, a long sweep.

The compass of any turning body or of any motion; as, the sweep of a door; the sweep of the eye.

The compass of anything flowing or brushing; as, the flood carried away everything within its sweep.

Violent and general destruction; as, the sweep of an epidemic disease.

Direction and extent of any motion not rectlinear; as, the sweep of a compass.

Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, or the like, away from a rectlinear line. The road which makes a small sweep. Sir W. Scott.

One who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, a chimney sweeper.

A movable templet for making molds, in loam molding.

The mold of a ship when she begins to curve in at the rungheads; any part of a ship shaped in a segment of a circle.

A large oar used in small vessels, partly to propel them and partly to steer them.

The almond furnace. [Obs.]

A long pole, or piece of timber, moved on a horizontal fulcrum fixed to a tall post and used to raise and lower a bucket in a well for drawing water. [Variously written swape, sweep, swepe, and swipe.]

In the game of casino, a pairing or combining of all the cards on the board, and so removing them all; in whist, the winning of all the tricks (thirteen) in a hand; a slam.

The sweeping of workshops where precious metals are worked, containing filings, etc. Sweep net, a net for drawing over a large compass. -- Sweep of the tiller (Naut.), a circular frame on which the tiller traverses.