sweep 
3. To strike with a long sweeping stroke ; brush 
or traverse quickly with the fingers; pass with 
a brushing motion, as the fingers; hence, to 
produce, as musical sounds, by such a motion 
or stroke. 
Wake into voice each silent string, 
And sweep the sounding lyre ! 
Pope, Ode on St. Cecilia's Day. 
The wind began to sweep 
A music out of sheet and shroud. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, ciii. 
If the lingers be repeatedly swept rapidly over some- 
thing covered by numerous small prominences, as the 
papillated surface of an ordinary counterpane, a peculiar 
feeling of numbness in them results. 
//. Spencer, Prin. of Psychol., 45. 
4. To move over or along: as, the wind swept 
the surface of the sea. 
As ... choughs . . . madly sweep the sky. 
Shale., M. N. D., iii. 2. 23. 
Troy's proud dames, whose garments sweep the ground. 
Pope, Iliad, vi. 53. 
5. To direct the eye over in a comprehensive 
glance; view with the eye or an optical instru- 
ment in a rapid and general survey: as, to 
sweep the heavens with a telescope. 
Here let us sweep 
The boundless landscape. 
Thommn, Summer, 1. 1408. 
To see distinctly a wide field, as in looking at a land- 
scape or a picture, we unconsciously and rapidly sweep 
the line of sight over every part, and then gather up the 
combined impression in the memory. 
Le Conte, Sight, p. 74. 
6. To brush over, as with a broom or besom, 
for removing loose dirt ; make clean by brush- 
ing: as, to sweep a floor or a chimney. 
What woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one 
piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and 
seek diligently till she find it? Luke xv. 8. 
The besom that must sweep the court clean of such filth. 
Shale., 2 Hen. VI., iv. 7. 84. 
7. To rid as by sweeping; clear. 
But first seven ships from Rochester are sent, 
The narrow seas of all the French to sweep. 
Drayton, Battle of Agincourt, st. 46. 
8. To draw or drag something over: as, to 
sweep the bottom of a river with a net, or with 
the bight of a rope to hook an anchor. 9. 
To propel by means of sweeps or long oars. 
Brigs of 386 tons have been swept at three knots or more. 
Admiral Smyth. (Imp. Diet.) 
10. To have within range of fire ; clear of ene- 
mies or a mob by a discharge of artillery or 
musketry, as a street or square. 
Sections or full batteries of Hie Division artillery were 
posted to sweep the avenues of approach, and the fields 
on which these avenues opened. The Century, XXX. 315. 
The French are now transporting heavy siege artillery 
to their new or remodeled works commanding the high- 
ways that lead to France, and so arranged as to be capable 
of siveeping them from two sides. 
Sri. Amer., N. 8., LVIII. 129. 
To sweep away, to scatter ; disperse ; get rid of. 
A broom is hung at the mast-head of ships about to be 
sold, to indicate that they are to be swept away. 
Brewer, Diet. Phrase and Fable (Broom). 
To sweep the board or the stakes. See board. To 
sweep the deck or the decks. See deck. 
sweep (swep), it. [Early mod. E. also swepe ; 
= OHG. MHG. sweif, G. schweif, a ramble, = 
Icel. sveipr, a fold, swoop, twirl ; from the verb.] 
1. The act of sweeping; the act of effecting 
something by means of a sweeping or clearing- 
out force ; hence, wholesale change or removal. 
Here has been a great sweep of employments, and we 
expect still more removals. Swift, Journal to Stella, xlix. 
The hope that the few remaining hundreds of the abo- 
rigines might be captured in one sweep. 
Nineteenth Century, XXVI. 758. 
2. The reach or range of a continued motion 
or stroke: as, the long sweep of a scythe ; direc- 
tion or extent of any motion not rectilinear: 
as, the sweep of a compass; hence, range, in 
general; compass. 
Tyranny sends the chain that must abridge 
The noble svieep of all their privilege. 
Cowper, Table-Talk, 1. 475. 
Feelings of calm power and boundless sweep. 
Bryant, The Poet. 
An incision was commenced on the mesial line . . .and 
carried backward and downward ... in a semicircular 
sweep. J. M. Carnochan, Operative Surgery, p. 81. 
Specifically (a) The compass of anything flowing or 
blowing: as, the flood or the storm carried away every- 
thing within its sweep. (6) Reach; extent; prevalence, 
as of a disease : as, the sweep of an epidemic. 
3. A turn, bend, or curve. 
The St. Just miners ... use a hammer . . . which is 
a long bloathead with a little sweep. 
Morgans, Manual of Mining Tools, p. 65. 
6106 
The cavalcade, following the siveep of the drive, quickly 
turned the angle of the house, and I lost sight of it. 
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, xvii. 
Deep, wistful gray eyes, under a smep of brown hair 
that fell across his forehead. The Atlantic, LXV. 353. 
The stream twists down through the valley in longxweeps, 
leaving oval wooded bottoms, first on one side and then 
on the other. T. liooseoelt, The Century, XXXV. 6S5. 
4. A circular, semicircular, or curved carriage- 
drive in front of a house. 
Down the little carriage-drive past the pigeon-house 
elevated on a pole, ... up the sweep, and so to the house- 
door. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, I. 311. 
5. A rapid survey or inspection by moving the 
direction of vision in a systematic manner so 
as to search the whole of a given angular area; 
especially, in astron., the act of sweeping (see 
sweep, v. i., 4); hence, the immediate object 
of such a view; hence, again, the external ob- 
ject, the country, or section of the heavens 
viewed. 
Beyond the farthest sweep of the telescope. 
Craik, Hist. Bug. Lit., II. 173. 
By continuing my sweeps of the heavens my opinion of 
the arrangement of the stars and their magnitudes, and of 
some other particulars, has undergone a gradual change. 
A. M. Clerke, Astron. in 19th Cent., p. 26. 
A magnificent sweep of mountain country was in sight. 
C. D. Warner, Roundabout Journey, p. 93. 
6. In ship-building, any arc of a circle used 
in the body-plan to describe the form of the 
timbers. 7. Naut., a large oar, used in small 
vessels sometimes to assist the rudder in turn- 
ing the vessel in a calm, but usually to propel 
the craft. Also swape. 8. A metal frame on 
which the tiller or rudder-yoke of a ship travels. 
9. An engine formerly used in war for throw- 
ing stones into fortresses; a ballista. [Still 
used in heraldry.] 10. A device for drawing 
water from a well by means of a long pole rest- 
ing on a tall upright as a fulcrum; also, one of 
various somewhat similar levers performing 
other functions, as the lever of a horse-power. 
Also swipe, swape. 
A great poste and high is set f aste ; then over it Cometh 
a longe beame whiche renneth on a pynne, so that the one 
ende havynge more poyse then the other causeth the 
lyghter ende to ryse ; with such beere brewers in London 
dooe drawe up water ; they call it a sweepe. 
Elyot. (Hattiwett.) 
The well, its long sweep piercing the skies, its bucket 
swinging to and fro in the wind. 8. Judd, Margaret, ii. 1. 
11. In loam-molding, a pattern shape consisting 
of a board of which the edge is cut to the form 
of the cross-sectional outline of the article to 
be molded. The surface of the mold or core is formed 
by moving the sweep parallel to the axis at right angles 
to its length. For hollow articles, as pipes, sweeps are 
Sweeps for Molding. 
made in pairs, one for "running up "the core and the 
other for forming the interior of the mold. They are con- 
sequently the reverse of each other, and the radii differ 
by a quantity equal to the thickness of the metal of the 
pipe to be cast. Thus, supposing the internal diameter 
of the pipe to be 24 inches, and the thickness of the metal 
1 inch, the radius of each core and sweep (see a) will be 12 
inches, and the radius of the mold-sweep (see 6) 13 inches. 
Sweeps are employed for many other symmetrical forms 
besides cylinders. 
12. A form of light plow or cultivator used for 
working crops planted in rows, as cotton or 
maize; a cotton-sweep. 13. In card-playing : 
(a) In the game of casino, a pairing or combin- 
ing of all the cards on the board and so remov- 
ing them all. (5) In whist, the winning of all 
the tricks in a hand. 14. Same as sweepstakes, 
[Colloq.] 15. pi. The sweepings of an estab- 
lishment where precious metals are worked, 
as a goldsmith's or silversmith's shop, or a 
mint. 
The silver wasted by the operative officers and sold in 
sweeps during the year was 44,413.20 standard ounces. 
Rep. Sec. Treasury, 1886, p. 168. 
Wastage and loss on sale of sweeps. [U. S. mints.] 
Rep. Sec. Treasury, 1886, p. 252. 
16. One who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, 
a chimney-sweeper. 
We positively deny that the sweeps have art or part in 
these proceedings. Dickens, Sketches, Scenes, xx. 
It was in country places, however, that the stealing and 
kidnapping of children was the most frequent, and the 
threat of "the sweeps will get you "was often held out, to 
deter children from wandering. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, II: 394. 
17. See the quotation. 
Four broad, curved pieces of iron, called su'eeps, press- 
ers, or pushers, which terms are synonymous, and their use 
sweep-rake 
is to force the tempered clay through an opening near 
the bottom in the side of the cylinder or box inclosing 
the pug-mill. C. 'f. Davis, Bricks, etc., p. 109. 
Sweep of a seine, the reach or compass of a seine that 
is swept. To make a Clean sweep, to sweep away any- 
thing completely ; remove entirely ; clean out : often used 
in politics : as, to make a clean sweep of onke-holders. 
They burnt thirty-two houses in Springfield, the min- 
ister's house and all, with all his library (and books was 
sca'ce in them days) ; but the Indians made a clean sweep 
on't. //. II. Stone, Oldtown, p. 103. 
sweepage (swe'paj), n. [< sweep + -age.] The 
crop of hay got in a meadow. [Prov. Eng.] 
sweep-bar (swep'bar), )'. Same as stcay-bar. 
sweeper (swe'per), n. [< ME. swepare; <. sweep 
+ -er 1 .] 1. One who or that which sweeps; 
a sweeping-machine. 
Oxygen, the sweeper of the living organism, becomes 
the lord of the dead body. 
Huxley and Ymimans, Physiol., 35. 
It was late in the day when the big weepers with six 
teams of horses came down to clear the track. 
New York Times, Jan. 26, 1891. 
2. A tree growing on the margin of a stream, 
and overhanging the water at a sharp angle 
from the bank. It sometimes forms an excel- 
lent fishing-place. 
sweeping (swe'ping), n. [Early mod. E. also 
sicepyng; verbal n. ol sweep, v.~\ 1. The act of 
one who or that which sweeps, in any sense ; 
also, the result of such act. 
With a sweepinff of the arm, 
And a lack-lustre dead-blue eye, 
Devolved his rounded peiiods. 
Tennyson, A Character. 
Within the flowery swarth he heard 
The sweeping of the scythe. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 379. 
2. pi. Whatever is gathered together }>y or as 
by sweeping ; rubbish ; refuse. 
They shulde bee dryuen togy ther on heapes by th(e]ym- 
pulsyon of the shyppes, euen as a beasome gathereth the 
swepynges of a house. 
Peter Martyr (tr. in Eden's First Books on America, ed. 
[Arber, p. 167). 
The sweepings of the finest lady's chamber. 
Swift, Meditation upon a Broomstick. 
The population [of Armenia] was composed lai-gely of 
the sweepings of Asia Minor, Christian tribes which had 
taken refuge in the mountains. 
Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 159. 
Specifically (a) In stereotyping and electrotyping, the bits 
of metal thrown on the floor by sawing- and planing-ma- 
chines. (b) In printing, the waste paper swept up from 
the floor of a press-room, (c) In bookbinding, the bits of 
gold-leaf gathered up by the cotton cloth that is used to 
remove the surplus gold of a gilded book. 
sweeping (swe'ping), p. a. [Ppr. of sweep, v.'] 
1. Carrying everything before it ; overwhelm- 
ing : as, a sweeping majority. 
Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's sway. 
Gray, The Bard, II. ii. 13. 
2. Including or comprehending many individ- 
uals or particulars in a single act or assertion ; 
comprehensive; all-including: as, a sweeping 
charge ; a sweeping declaration. 
One sweeping clause of ban and anathema. 
Burke, Rev. in France. 
This has the manifest drawback of most general izations : 
it is far too sweeping. A. Dobson, Introd. to Steele, p. xi. 
There is no doubt that the Roman commonwealth in its 
last days . . . needed the most sweeping of reforms. 
E. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 336. 
Sweeping resolution, in U. S. hist., a resolution passed 
by the Ohio legislature in 1810, declaring vacant the seats 
of all the State judges. 
sweeping-car (swe'ping-kar), n. A car carrying 
mechanical rotary brooms for sweeping snow 
and dirt from a railroad-track. 
sweeping-day (swe'ping-da), n. The day on 
which sweeping is regularly done, as in a house. 
Friday, the anniversary of the Assembly Ball, was gen- 
eral sweeping-day at Mrs. Dansken's. 
The Century, XXXVIII. 180. 
sweepingly (swe'ping-li), adr. In a sweeping 
or comprehensive manner. 
It seemed all so sweepingly intelligible. 
E. Montgomery, Mind, IX. 372. 
SWeepingness (swe'ping-nes), w. The charac- 
ter of being sweeping or comprehensive: as, 
the sweepingness of a charge. 
sweep-net (swep'net), . 1. A large net admit- 
ting of making a wide compass in drawing it. 
2. A net used by entomologists to take in- 
sects by drawing it over herbage with a sweep- 
ing motion. It generally consists of a bag of light 
strong cloth attached to an iron or brass ring set in a short 
handle. 
sweep-piece (swep'pes), . In ship-building, a 
curved piece of timber fastened to the inner 
side of a port-sill to assist in training a gun. 
sweep-rake (swep'rak), n. The rake that clears 
the table of a self-raking reaper. E. H. Eniglit. 
