Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use sweep in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Sweep means to clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush. Example: “The wind sweeps across the plain.”

Examples of sweep by meaning

verbTo clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush.

  • to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney

verbTo move through a (horizontal) arc or similar long stroke.

  • The wind sweeps across the plain.
  • The offended countess swept out of the ballroom.

verbTo travel quickly.

  • Drifting thus, we made fast time down the bank through Cove Bay, and at 72 m.p.h. came sweeping round the curve past Girdleness light house, and so to the first sight of Aberdeen itself.1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 9
  • Everton took that disputed lead in a moment that caused anger to sweep around the Emirates.2011 February 1, Phil McNulty, “Arsenal 2-1 Everton”, in BBC

verbTo clear (a body of water or part thereof) of mines.

  • The channel was swept twice before the battlefleet proceeded through it.

verbTo remove something abruptly and thoroughly.

  • She swept the peelings off the table onto the floor.
  • The wind sweeps the snow from the hills.
  • The flooded river swept away the wooden dam.

verbTo draw or drag something over.

  • to sweep the bottom of a river with a net

verbTo pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation.

  • to sweep the heavens with a telescope
  • Clay doesn't fare so well, and quickly sweeps the whole room, even checking behind his back.2008–2021, qntm, “We Need To Talk About Fifty-Five”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 13

nounA single action of sweeping.

  • Give the front steps a quick sweep to get rid of those fallen leaves.

More sentences with sweep

  • Some sort of mental and social pathology seemed to sweep over the discourse later that autumn.From the entry pathology
  • The sweep of the rocky Southern California coastline off Point Fermin.From the entry coastline
  • I used a whisk to sweep the counter, then a push-broom for the floor.From the entry whisk
  • A tall building was visible on the whole sweep of the horizon.From the entry horizon
  • He forged forward against the current, even as it tried to sweep him down river.From the entry forged
  • Antimonarchical sentiment threatened to sweep away the last vestige of royal prerogative.From the entry antimonarchical
  • This beach suffers from a riptide that can easily sweep you out to sea.From the entry riptide
  • Our bank does a nightly sweep of accounts, to adjust the float so we stay within our reserves limit.From the entry float
  • A strong undertow may sweep a returning swimmer off their feet but it does not carry them far from the shore.From the entry undertow
  • The team won three games in the series and then lost a game, but recovered with a gentleman's sweep.From the entry gentleman's sweep
  • A camera at a Coldplay concert near Boston sweeps the audience and picks out a canoodling couple.2025 July 18, Rory Carroll, “Are they ‘having an affair’ or just shy? The couple caught on Coldplay’s kiss cam”, in Katharine Viner…. From the entry canoodle
  • She was the Jill of all trades there; shampoo girl, receptionist, and sweep up gal.2012, J. N. Sadler, Neighbors, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 44. From the entry jill of all trades
  • The reverse sweep turns the canoe sharply onside, reducing forward momentum.2011, Introduction to Paddling: Canoeing Basics for Lakes and Rivers, →ISBN. From the entry onside
  • It has been noted that the new broom sweeps clean, but the old broom knows the corners.2011, Sylvia Bronner Walker, Little Nuggets for Life's Experiences, →ISBN. From the entry a new broom sweeps clean, but an old broom knows the corners
  • India made a clean sweep of medals in the boys’ under-12 and girls’ under 10 sections.2008 September, “Chess”, in Pratiyogita Darpan, volume 3, number 27, Pratiyogita Darpan, page 398. From the entry clean sweep
  • It covers a broad sweep of the events, personalities, and forces that have shaped this vacationland.2002, James C. O'Connell, Becoming Cape Cod: creating a seaside resort. From the entry vacationland
  • Just park them in nonjobs, and periodically sweep the nonjobs out with a reengineering study.2002, Sam Hill, Sixty Trends in Sixty Minutes, page 205. From the entry nonjob
  • So on the first play, I asked the quarterback to call my number on an end sweep.2002, Rich Wolfe, Kurt Warner: And the Last Shall Be First, →ISBN, page 229. From the entry call someone's number
  • This speed is called sweepage, and only when you have sweepage can you effectively sweep.2001, Brad Dimock, Sunk Without a Sound: The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde, →ISBN. From the entry sweepage
  • At last, when the tribute slackened, he motioned to his retainers to sweep up the treasure.1984, John Henry Cary, Julius Weinberg, The Social Fabric: American life from 1607 to 1877. From the entry Kleagle
  • “Let’s see if we can find an icecream shop open,” Jasmine suggested, preparing to sweep Samantha away.1975, Doris E[dna] Smith, Cotswold Honey, Harlequin Books, →ISBN, page 96. From the entry icecream shop
  • Radley, and all I had to do was come out and sweep the porch.1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC. From the entry parcel out
  • The Bavarian felt a mad wave of desire for her sweep over him.1915, The Wireless Age, volume 2, page 580. From the entry compass
  • I will appear in a vision to the vergeress who sweeps the floors.1910, Saki [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], “The Saint and the Goblin”, in Reginald in Russia and Other Sketches, London: Methuen & Co.…. From the entry vergeress
  • With an autocratic, barely perceptible sweep of the hand, the general cut him short.1901, Isaac Kahn Friedman, By bread alone. From the entry dulciloquy
  • Emerging from Kennaway Tunnel, the train sweeps to the right, affording views of the recent work to solidify the railway here.2023 August 23, Pip Dunn, “The last bastion of the HST 'Castles'”, in RAIL, number 990, page 49. From the entry solidify
  • If they had all come at me together, I would’ve been able to sweep them all at once with explosions.2023, Tsuyoshi Fujitaka, translated by Kevin Chen, These Legs Don’t Lie! Harumi’s Legacy as the Strongest Mimic, volume 1, J-Novel Club…. From the entry 1v1

Meaning of sweep

  1. verb To clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush.
  2. verb To move through a (horizontal) arc or similar long stroke.
  3. verb To search (a place) methodically.

Full definition of sweep

Questions about sweep in a sentence

How do you use sweep in a sentence?
Sweep is used as a verb and noun. For example: “The wind sweeps across the plain.”
What is a short sentence with sweep?
“The wind sweeps across the plain.”
What does sweep mean?
Sweep means to clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sweep (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use sweep in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/sweep. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.