Definitions for sweeping

• Definition
• Anagrams (190)

sweeping sweep·ing

Spelling: [swee-ping]

IPA: /ˈswi pɪŋ/

Sweeping is a 8 letter English word. It's valid Scrabble word worth 14 points. It's valid Words with friends word worth 17 points.

You can make 190 anagrams from letters in sweeping (eeginpsw).

Definitions for sweeping

noun

1. the act of a person or thing that sweeps.
2. sweepings, matter swept out or up, as dust, refuse, etc.
3. the act of sweeping, especially a moving, removing, clearing, etc., by or as if by the use of a broom:
4. the steady, driving motion or swift onward course of something moving with force or without interruption:
5. an examination by electronic detection devices of a room or building to determine the presence of hidden listening devices.
6. a swinging or curving movement or stroke, as of the arm, a weapon, an oar, etc.
7. reach, range, or compass, as of something sweeping about:
8. a continuous extent or stretch:
9. a curving, especially widely or gently curving, line, form, part, or mass.
10. matter removed or gathered by sweeping.
11. Also called well sweep. a leverlike device for raising or lowering a bucket in a well.
12. a large oar used in small vessels, sometimes to assist the rudder or to propel the craft.
13. an overwhelming victory in a contest.
14. a winning of all the games, rounds, hands, prizes, etc., in a contest by one contestant.
15. Football. end run.
16. one of the sails of a windmill.
17. Agriculture. any of the detachable triangular blades on a cultivator.
18. Chiefly British. a person employed to clean by sweeping, especially a chimney sweeper.
19. Cards. Whist. the winning of all the tricks in a hand. Compare slam2 (def 1). Casino. a pairing or combining, and hence taking, of all the cards on the board.
20. Physics. an irreversible process tending towards thermal equilibrium.

adjective

1. of wide range or scope.
2. moving or passing about over a wide area:
3. moving, driving, or passing steadily and forcibly on.
4. (of the outcome of a contest) decisive; overwhelming; complete:

verb (used with object)

1. to move or remove (dust, dirt, etc.) with or as if with a broom, brush, or the like.
2. to clear or clean (a floor, room, chimney, etc.) of dirt, litter, or the like, by means of a broom or brush.
3. to drive or carry by some steady force, as of a wind or wave:
4. to pass or draw (something) over a surface with a continuous stroke or movement:
5. to make (a path, opening, etc.) by clearing a space with or as if with a broom.
6. to clear (a surface, place, etc.) of something on or in it (often followed by of):
7. to pass over (a surface, region, etc.) with a steady, driving movement or unimpeded course, as winds, floods, etc.:
8. to search (an area or building) thoroughly:
9. to pass the gaze, eyes, etc., over (a region, area, etc.):
10. to direct (the eyes, gaze, etc.) over a region, surface, or the like:
11. to examine electronically, as to search for a hidden listening device.
12. to win a complete or overwhelming victory in (a contest):
13. to win (every game, round, hand, etc., of a series of contests):
14. Music. to pass the fingers or bow over (a musical instrument, its strings or keys, etc.), as in playing. to bring forth (music) thus.

verb (used without object)

1. to sweep a floor, room, etc., with or as if with a broom:
2. to move steadily and strongly or swiftly (usually followed by along, down, by, into, etc.).
3. to move or pass in a swift but stately manner:
4. to move, pass, or extend in a continuous course, especially a wide curve or circuit:
5. to conduct an underwater search by towing a drag under the surface of the water.
6. Aeronautics. (of an airfoil or its leading or trailing edge) to project from the fuselage at an angle rearward or forward of a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.

Origin of sweeping

First recorded in 1470-80; sweep¹ + -ing², -ing¹

Examples for sweeping

As he would later prove in sweeping victories, it was a message he believed transcended ideology and party.

The first task that was set her was that of sweeping and dusting a parlor.

A sane and sensible wave seemed to be sweeping the whole country.

An unusually lethal hemorrhagic fever was sweeping through the region.

He likes small windows and greatly dislikes the sweeping areas of glass and metal that characterise the work of Richard Rogers.

He preferred to do this, rather than to go at once to work at the sweeping and cleaning.

In 2013, the state legislature passed a sweeping charter school bill pushed by Mitchell that loosened oversight and regulation.

These tensions run throughout the conference, but also throughout the “mindfulness” movement that is now sweeping America.

She meant to weave some nice brushes, for the evening sweeping.

I tried to think, to struggle against the tide that was sweeping me away.