2a long, swift curving movement:a grandiose sweep of his hand
Electronics the movement of a beam across the screen of a cathode ray tube.
Cricket an attacking stroke in which the bat is brought across the body from a half-kneeling position to hit the ball to leg.
3a comprehensive search or survey of a place or area:the police finished their sweep through the woods
(often sweeps) North American a survey of the ratings of television stations, carried out at regular intervals to determine advertising rates.
4a 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
the range or scope of something:the whole sweep of the history of the USSR
5 informal a sweepstake.
6North American an instance of winning every event, award, or place in a contest:a World Series sweep
7a long, heavy oar used to row a barge or other vessel: [as modifier]:a big, heavy sweep oar
8a sail of a windmill.
9a long pole mounted as a lever for raising buckets from a well.
ზმნა
Universal
1clean (an area) by brushing away dirt or litter:I’ve swept the floorGreg swept out the kitchen
[with object and adverbial of direction] move or remove (dirt or litter) by brushing it away:she swept the tea leaves into a dustpan
[with object and adverbial of direction] move or push (someone or something) with great force:I was swept along by the crowd figurativeNahum’s smile swept away the air of apprehensive gloom
[with object and adverbial of direction] brush (hair) back from one’s face or upwards:long hair swept up into a high chignon
Cricket hit (the ball) on the leg side by bringing the bat across the body from a half-kneeling position; hit a ball delivered by (a bowler) with such a stroke.
2 [no object, with adverbial of direction] move swiftly and smoothly:a large black car swept past the open windows figurativehis cool grey eyes swept over her
(of a person) move in a confident and stately manner:she swept magnificently from the hall
affect (an area or place) swiftly and widely:the rebellion had swept through all four of the country’s provinces [with object]:violence swept the country
(of a geographical or natural feature) extend continuously in a particular direction, especially in a curve:green forests swept down the hillsides
[with object]North American 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
3search (an area) for something:the detective swept the room for hair and fingerprints
examine (something) 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
