I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a current sweeps sb/sth (= carries them very powerfully, so that they cannot stop moving )
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The treacherous currents have swept away three swimmers in the past year.
a sweeping curve (= wide and gentle )
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the sweeping curve of the bay
a sweeping statement (= one that is too general )
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Researchers do not want to make any sweeping statements at this stage.
a wave sweeps/washes over sb (= someone suddenly experiences a feeling or emotion )
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A sudden wave of joy swept over her.
be swept out to sea (= be taken far away from land by the sea )
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They had to rescue three young canoeists who were swept out to sea.
broad/sweeping/gross generalization
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a sweeping generalization based on speculation
chimney sweep
far-reaching/sweeping reforms (= reforms that affect many things or have a great effect )
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The new government instituted a series of far-reaching reforms.
nausea sweeps over/engulfs sb formal:
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Nausea swept over him when he tried to stand.
sb’s gaze moves/travels/shifts/sweeps etc
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His gaze travelled over the still water to the other side of the lake.
sweep the floor
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He grabbed a broom and began sweeping the floor.
sweep to power (= win an election easily )
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Reagan swept to power by promising reforms.
sweep to victory (= win easily )
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Nixon swept to victory by 47 million votes to 29 million.
sweep (up) the leaves (= tidy away fallen leaves using a brush )
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Jack was sweeping leaves in the back garden.
sweeping changes (= affecting many things or people, especially because of an official decision )
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There are likely to be sweeping changes in the company.
sweep...into...pile
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He began to sweep the pieces of glass into a pile .
sweep/scrub sth clean (= use a brush to clean something )
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She quickly swept the floor clean.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
along
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He had been swept along by Tommy's drunken madness.
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Had he merely been swept along by the force of her own impulsive feelings?
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He is sweeping along on a tide of revisionism.
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Debris of all sizes up to great boulders may be swept along until the flood subsides.
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Perhaps because I am being swept along by it, I recently chose to have a little flutter myself.
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They swept along the crimson canal into the purlieus of the new city.
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Yearning and brilliance clasp hands and sweep along together.
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Philip was as reluctant as Henry, but the two Kings were now swept along by the tide of public opinion.
aside
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But these objections were swept aside .
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But the scientific doubts were swept aside amid pleas from anxious patients.
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John Bryant, a congressman and the preferred party candidate, was swept aside .
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Yet the past may not be so easily swept aside .
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But simplistic claims have to be swept aside .
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Either way they risk being swept aside in turn when he succeeds, when they also seem stupid.
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Yet the world champion is so unpredictably gifted that one on-song display could easily enable her to sweep aside the opposition.
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He made himself the centre for information during the Red Raids that followed, brutal nights when civil liberties were swept aside .
away
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Until that outdated charade is swept away , Britain's decline will continue, whatever government may be in power.
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That provided a last opportunity before the bridegroom-to-be would be swept away on his mission.
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Cloud-shadows tried to creep the length of the street, but were swept away by the sun.
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Edna had loved her first husband, and was swept away by her second.
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None of this ultimately mattered as everyone was swept away by the beauty and the joy of it all.
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He stood by helplessly as De La Hoya was being swept away by the crowd.
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I think she was swept away by the power of the man and his importance.
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She opened the door and the two windows to let the morning sweep away the cooking odors.
back
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Her black hair was swept back in the careless style that only the most expensive hairdressing can give.
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Her eyelids swept down over her eyes and swept back up again.
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The traditional crop is softened with a short fringe For the man in control, hair is swept back in strong waves.
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Her eyes swept back and forth over them as steady as a turning beacon.
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He swept back the curtain above his bunk.
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A thin strand of smoke swept back over Ezra and vanished in the wind.
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De Gaulle was swept back to power.
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She is young and she is beautiful, jaw jutting forth, hair swept back , eyes deep and direct.
out
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She was sweeping out the yard while Bella cooked the lunch and sang to the baby.
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He got a job sweeping out a saloon and was allowed to sleep in the carriage house behind it.
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They swept out , Charity enquiring loudly as she went when the so-called war was going to begin.
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They even sweep out the shops by piece rate.
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Washout occurs when material below the cloud is swept out by rain or snow as it falls.
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The Sadlowski campaign in Chicago swept out all sorts of local-union old guards.
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I was just so furious that I swept out in high dudgeon.
through
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The wind sweeps through and the hunched wolf shivers.
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The sunlight glimmered off these blades and when the sea breeze swept through they rippled like sequins on a party dress.
up
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Victorian values might include slavery, children down the mines and chimney sweeps up the stack, as well as gin parlours and asylums.
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Rumors swept up from the factory floor and lofted back down again from the cubicles of middle management.
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Stiffly, reluctantly, she rose to her feet and began to sweep up the litter of broken china.
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By collision and gravitational attraction, the larger planetesimals swept up the smaller pieces and became the planets.
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The leaves hadn't been swept up , and the gravel was alive with weeds.
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It led to a five-foot-wide walnut staircase that swept up in a sumptuous curve to the floor above.
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I was swept up in sadness that afternoon.
■ NOUN
board
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Now comes a fine Teldec Digital Experience disc which sonically sweeps the board .
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Last season, they swept the board with all four leading places.
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If the reformists emerge as the largest group, they will sweep the board .
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Still, when the outcome was finally confirmed, reformers had swept the board .
carpet
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We knew that it wouldn't just go away if we swept it under the carpet .
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Voice over There's no chance of dirt being swept under the carpet .
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Refuse to sweep difficulties under the carpet but sort things out even when it is painful.
floor
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He found sweeping the floor too boring and manoeuvred himself into a role making electrical control panels.
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By half past six, he was sweeping the floor of the shop.
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Vashti McKenzie, looking cool and calm in a royal blue Africaninspired two-piece dress that swept the floor .
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That looks a pretty good job, sweeping the floor , though I'd rather have a go on the sweeping machine.
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In other cities, I swept floors and emptied garbage cans.
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To be applied to everything from religious observance to sweeping the kitchen floor .
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You could sweep floors for all I care.
nation
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Remorse about Dole, reflected in the opinion-poll chasm between him and Bill Clinton, swept the nation .
wind
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A WIND of change has swept Ellesmere Port Town that isn't good news.
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Even surrounded by environmentalists on the wind swept banks of the mighty Connecticut River, Rep.
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She suddenly felt as cold as the raw wind of March that swept the streets of London outside her office window.
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It must have been a tough journey in the intense cold and wind that sweeps the Himalayas below Mount Everest.
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The wind sweeps through and the hunched wolf shivers.
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The wind sweeps unhindered across the plains, and there is very little precipitation.
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The farm was beside Lake Eyrie and rain, along with bitter winds , would sweep over the vineyard.
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It was a wind that might have swept the fields of mortality for a thousand centuries.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a clean sweep
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Lewis, Burrell, and Mitchell made it a clean sweep for the U.S. in the 100 meters.
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But he failed to achieve a clean sweep of the end-of-season awards.
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I had made up my mind at the Scenic Overlook to make a clean sweep through the house.
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Lismore's minor outfit were beaten 21-14 by Notra Dame to destroy chances of a clean sweep.
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Now is the time to make a clean sweep of all the jobs you put off during the bad weather.
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The poll also pointed to a clean sweep for the Democrats in elections for lieutenant-governor and attorney-general.
sweeping statement/generalization
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He prefers a complicated sentence to a sweeping statement.
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Of course, this is usually so, but I am having little niggling doubts about such a sweeping statement.
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This is a sweeping statement which makes little obvious sense on first reading, so let us dissect it more carefully.
sweeping victory
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The second was a sweeping victory, and the Athenians followed it up by landing troops on Aigina and besieging the town.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Can you help me sweep up all the pieces of glass?
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I just finished sweeping the kitchen floor.
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Linda swept the coins into her purse.
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Strong waves swept the boy out into the surf.
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The Democrats had swept the fall elections and were about to take control of the Senate.
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When everyone had left, Ed swept the floor.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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He kind of swept me off my feet.
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Just ask the experts, the cops who sweep them up afterward.
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Phillario has already wished that the rain would sweep Mira away, and now Corydon is intent on getting rid of weeds.
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While the keen amateurs struggle with maggots and nets on the bank ... these professionals cruise by sweeping up.
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You couldn't bear the thought of a chit of a girl sweeping in and scooping the jackpot.
II. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
clean
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Now is the time to make a clean sweep of all the jobs you put off during the bad weather.
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I had made up my mind at the Scenic Overlook to make a clean sweep through the house.
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A clean sweep , that was what was needed.
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The poll also pointed to a clean sweep for the Democrats in elections for lieutenant-governor and attorney-general.
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Worrell averaged 83 with the bat, leading his team to only the fourth 5-0 clean sweep in Test history.
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But he failed to achieve a clean sweep of the end-of-season awards.
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Lismore's minor outfit were beaten 21-14 by Notra Dame to destroy chances of a clean sweep .
wide
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Jimmy made a wide sweep of the littered clearing, finding his own kind of kindling.
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I counted more than 30 tufted ducks while at least 80 mallards were making wide sweeps round the pond before resettling.
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There is a shift from the wider historical sweep of the previous chapter, to the details of present conversation.
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Cut to the wide sweep of Hampstead Heath.
■ NOUN
chimney
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She might even ring the chimney sweep .
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Neighbors had complained that months went by and one never saw a chimney sweep .
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That would not have been a risk incidental to the trade of chimney sweep .
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Police made a sweep of the area to arrest drug dealers.
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The sweep of the court's decision could affect all car manufacturers.
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The Giants completed their four-game sweep of Atlanta.
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The whale swam away with great sweeps of its tail.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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A good deal of that has changed in the sweep of less than 100 years.
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I felt the slow sweep of geologic time.
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Neighbors had complained that months went by and one never saw a chimney sweep .
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Nevertheless, a foot sweep does require a lot of power to prevent it from degenerating into no more than a shin attack.
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The sweep into Putumayo promises equally dire consequences.
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This really means cutting in angled sweeps, allowing the double blade to cut on the forward and return arc.