sweeping

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   present participle and gerund of sweep

2. 2

   An instance of sweeping.

   • The sidewalk needed a sweeping every morning.
3. 3

   The activity of sweeping.

   • Sweeping took all morning.
   • The sidewalk needed sweeping every morning.
4. ›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Wide, broad, affecting or touching upon many things.

      • The government will bring in sweeping changes to the income tax system.
      • He loves making sweeping statements without the slightest evidence.
      • We steamed easily across the first part of the Tay Bridge, and then after passing over the long spans in mid-stream we coasted smoothly down the 1 in 114 gradient, and around the sweeping curve through Esplanade Station.
   2. 5

      Completely overwhelming.

      • He claimed a sweeping victory.
   3. 6

      Moving in a continuous motion, rather than by intermittent jumps. (For example, the…

      Moving in a continuous motion, rather than by intermittent jumps. (For example, the second hand on a clock face may move either in the sweeping manner or in the ticking manner.)

The neighborhood