sweep up

phrasal verb

swept up; sweeping up; sweeps up

1

: to remove dust, dirt, etc., from (something) by using a broom or brush

When I was sweeping up, I found an earring that I had lost.

Can you please sweep up the porch?

2

: to remove (something, such as dust, dirt, etc.) from a surface by using a broom or brush

She swept up the broken glass.

3

: to pick up (someone or something) in one quick, continuous motion

She swept the baby up and carried her to the crib.

4

: to brush or pull (hair) away from the face

—usually used as be swept up

Her hair was swept up in a bun.

Examples of sweep up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Even German bunds, which earlier this year had benefited from safe-haven demand, were swept up in the sell-off, with the 30-year yield hitting a 14-year high. —Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2025

Newsweek has documented dozens of cases involving green card holders and applicants who were swept up in the immigration raids and various arrests, as well as several who have been released from detention. —Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025

When a Palestinian teenager gets swept up into a protest in the Occupied West Bank and experiences a moment of violence that rocks his family, his mother recounts the political and emotional threads that led to that fateful moment. —Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 26 Aug. 2025

Hostage stars Suranne Jones and Julie Delpy as European leaders swept up in a wide-ranging conspiracy. —Randall Colburn, EW.com, 25 Aug. 2025

Rhymes for sweep up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup