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push broom

push broom

1 3.2
A wide cleaning tool with a long handle that you push to sweep floors
  • noun
translation icon : escoba de empujar
  • Award winners don't push brooms.
  • Use a push broom
  • push broom to sweep

Examples

  • "You talking to me?" Tommy Weeks said, piloting a push broom along the aisle in front of her desk.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Eddie swept the debris into a pile with a push broom.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • I'm gonna need a push broom.

  • A push broom leans against the wainscoting.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Workers with push brooms sweep up tons of glittery "magic Rainbow dust."

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The storm had left leaves all over the deck, and I took a push broom and shoved wet brown layers under the railing off into space.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Volunteers should bring any tools that may have (rakes, shovels, push brooms, work gloves, trash bags).

    Blog text (1)
  • As Tommy set to work with his push broom again and moved on down the aisle, Holly tossed some more candy into her mouth and wondered if she would be able to pass the physical required of potential sanitation truck drivers.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • About 9:00 AM, armed with a push broom and grass rake, the gutter clutter from 18th to 19th Street is swept into piles for the claw.

    Blog text (33)
  • She used a push broom to clear the leaves from the garage floor.

Synonyms

broom
vspush broom
88 1.0

A tool with a long handle and a bundle of twigs used for sweeping floors

is a wider version meant to be pushed across large surfaces
sweeper
vspush broom
6 1.9

A cleaning machine with revolving brushes you push to pick up dirt from floors

is a manual wide brush pushed ahead without revolving parts
carpet sweeper
vspush broom
  • Archaic
1 3.5

A device with moving brushes that you push over carpets to collect dirt

is meant for pushing across floors and large flat areas instead of carpets
street broom
vspush broom
3.9

A large broom for sweeping streets and other outdoor areas

is for pushing over floors and large areas not only outdoors

How Big

sweeper
6 1.9
push broom
1 3.2
broom
88 1.0

Surface Forms

push broom singular
push brooms plural

Morphology

push + broom

The meaning 'a wide broom designed to be pushed ahead' is directly and predictably derived from combining 'push' (to apply force to move) with 'broom' (a sweeping tool) — essentially a broom you push. This V+N compound follows common English composition patterns and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would understand it.

Etymology

Push broom is named for how it is used: it is a wide broom with a long handle that you push forward to move dirt across a big floor. That's why it means a broom made for quickly 'sweeping' large areas.