to sweep out
- phrasal verb
- /swip aʊt/
- After helping the young men with their planting, Belle went home and swept out the chicken coops.
You know, we're talking millions of tons of wild animals that are being swept out of the ocean that favor a few.
- You know, we're talking millions of tons of wild animals that are being swept out of the ocean that favor a few.
Examples
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He decided to sweep out the old leaves from the patio to prepare for spring.
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- Would you go sweep out the chicken coop?
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I was sweeping out my garage when a guy walked up the driveway and asked, "Hey there, do you have a minute?"
Blog text (24) -
You will sweep out the church daily, and you will feed Vogel as one of your own.
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Every morning, she would climb down from her warm bed atop the clay oven, eat a breakfast of bran porridge, and sweep out her one room with a broom made of sticks from the forest.
Fiction book (2000) -
Every Saturday, I sweep out the garage to keep it tidy.
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Before the party, she will sweep out the living room to make sure everything looks nice.
Synonyms
To remove people or things from a place
To remove something from a place or container
To make a room or area free of dirt and tidy by removing mess
To empty something completely
To move a brush across something to clean or paint it
To clean a floor or surface by brushing away dirt with a broom
To remove something unwanted from a place
To lift something using a deep curved tool or your hand
Remove all things from a place so it becomes empty
Force unwanted people or things out of a place, often using water
Water or another liquid carries something away
To remove something from a surface by moving a cloth over it, like tears or dirt
Remove an outside layer or covering from something to show what is under it
Remove dirt or marks from a surface by rubbing with a cloth
To get rid of something completely so it no longer exists
To take things away from a place to make it tidy
Remove people completely from a place or group because they are unwanted
Remove dust and crumbs by shaking something
Clean something using water to remove dirt or stains
Remove things from a surface to make it empty or clean
Remove the inside of something with a spoon or small tool so it becomes hollow
To take something out by picking it up, often carefully or with a tool
To remove dirt or mud from a surface
To force someone to leave a place usually because they cause trouble
To clean a carpet or floor using a vacuum cleaner
To clean a carpet or floor with a vacuum cleaner
To clean something very well by scrubbing or washing
To remove dust from rugs by hitting or shaking them
Antonyms
How Clean
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to remove or clear away something by sweeping' is directly and compositionally derived from 'sweep' (to remove dirt) plus 'out' (away from the interior). This literal phrasal-verb pattern is common and predictable across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Sweep out comes from the simple image of using a broom to push dirt or leaves completely outside a room or building. Because people literally sweep things out to clear a space, sweep out now means 'to remove or clear away' by sweeping.