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Glite Dictionary
to sweep through

to sweep through

2 4.1
To finish something quickly and with little effort
  • phrasal verb
  • /swip θru/
translation icon : 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
113 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
44 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
10 3.2

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

means easy success without requiring top excellence
to walk over
vsto sweep through
  • Informal
7 4.2

Beat someone very easily

applies to easy success in tasks generally not only beating others
to breeze through
vsto sweep through
  • Informal
5 3.6

To succeed at something quickly and easily

is about succeeding with little effort rather than speed
to sail through
vsto sweep through
  • Informal
5 3.7

To succeed very easily at a task or exam

is used for easy success in any situation not only exams
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
898 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

to struggle
851 2.8

To try very hard to do or deal with something difficult

How Easy

to sail through
  • Informal
5 3.7
to sweep through
2 4.1
to complete
∞ 1.0
to get through
128 3.3
to struggle
851 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'.