sweep

Examples

• All

• Anybody call for a chimney sweep?

  EMR (2004)

• I was just your age when we first met, working for a chimney sweep.

  Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

• Oh yes, that dreadful East Ender who came around with the chimney sweep.

  Fiction book (2000)

• Marcel: Wait a minute! Maupassant: This is Marcel, the chimney sweep.

  Academic text (2011)

• She hired a chimney sweep to clean the soot from her fireplace.

• A local chimney sweep earns a living by ensuring that homes are safe from chimney fires.

Synonyms

C

chimneysweeper

vssweep

7.9

A person who cleans soot and ash from chimneys

has identical meaning but is the shorter base form without the -er ending

C

chimneysweep

vssweep

7.6

A person who cleans soot and ash from chimneys

has identical meaning but is the longer form adding the -er ending

Idioms

S

to sweep under the rug

• Informal

8 7.7

To hide a problem instead of dealing with it openly

Compounds

C

clean sweep

• Informal

5 3.6

A full success when someone wins everything or makes a complete change

S

sweep hand

• Specialized

1 5.5

A long hand on a watch or clock that shows seconds and moves smoothly

S

sweep oar

• Specialized

9.3

A long paddle one person holds with both hands to row a boat

S

sweep-second

• Specialized

8.6

A thin hand on a clock or watch attached at the middle that goes around every minute and moves smoothly

Surface Forms

Etymology