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Glite Dictionary
to sweep through

to sweep through

1 4.1
To finish something quickly and with little effort
  • phrasal verb
  • /swip θru/
: superar
  • The company still had 140,000 customers lacking power, down from 960,000, a total that was nearly five times the 200,000 Con Ed customers who lost power when Hurricane Irene swept through the region last year.
  • changes that swept through
  • swept through the room
  • swept through Europe

Examples

  • This book was easy to read, and I swept through it.

    Blog text (29)

  • After months of preparation, she was able to sweep through the exam with ease.

  • The Dragons swept through the finish line with a time of 15:57.988, which would earn them 4th place in their division.

    Blog text (1)

  • Relief swept through Annabelle as she heard him offer to fetch her a glass of champagne.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • He's the face of modern Kenya mixed with blaxploitation films, and he swept through the Kenyan blogosphere.

    Blog text (10)

  • He swept through the project, finishing it ahead of schedule without any difficulties.

  • With her talent and practice, she could sweep through the competition effortlessly.

Synonyms

to nail
vsto sweep through
  • Informal
189 4.0

To do something very well, for example in a test or performance

is more about succeeding with little effort rather than impressiveness
to ace
vsto sweep through
49 3.9

To do very well at something, especially a test

is about succeeding with little effort rather than always top performance
to pass with flying colors
vsto sweep through
13 3.2

To do very well in a test or task, often easily

means easy success without requiring top excellence
to sail through
vsto sweep through
  • Informal
11 3.7

To succeed very easily at a task or exam

is used for easy success in any situation not only exams
to breeze through
vsto sweep through
  • Informal
6 3.6

To succeed at something quickly and easily

is about succeeding with little effort rather than speed
to walk over
vsto sweep through
  • Informal
2 4.2

Beat someone very easily

applies to easy success in tasks generally not only beating others
to steamroll through
vsto sweep through
  • Informal
1 7.7

To get through something easily by pushing past people who are against you

describes easy success without using strong force or determination
to make light work of
vsto sweep through
  • Informal
1 4.1

To finish a task quickly and with little effort

is the same idea but expressed with different wording

Antonyms

to fail
∞ 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

to struggle
∞ 2.8

To try very hard to do or deal with something difficult

How Easy

to sail through
  • Informal
11 3.7
to sweep through
1 4.1
to complete
963 1.0
to get through
150 3.3
to struggle
∞ 2.8

Surface Forms

sweep through infinitive
sweeping through present participle
sweeps through third person singular
swept through past
swept through past participle

Morphology

sweep + through

The sense 'to complete or succeed easily' follows directly from combining 'sweep' (to clear, move through forcefully or win comprehensively) with 'through' (completely/from start to finish), producing a clear image of clearing something entirely with little resistance. This compositional motion/clearing + particle pattern is common and should be inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

The phrasal verb sweep through brings to mind a broom making a quick sweep across the floor and sending dust and small things through the room. So when someone sweeps through a course or contest, they move through the tasks quickly and easily, and the phrase means 'to complete or succeed with little effort'.