as in to eradicate
to destroy all traces of
some priceless works of literature were swept away when the library at Alexandria burned
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sweep (away)
Verb
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How did the United States eradicate them?—
Eduardo Cuevas,
USA Today,
2 June 2026 -
For an easy summer cleaning tip, wash towels in hot water and toss 1/2 cup of baking soda into the rinse cycle to eradicate stale scents.—
Emerson Latham,
Better Homes & Gardens,
30 May 2026
Verb
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Jalen Brunson scored 30 points, Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Knicks erased a 14-point second-half deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-95 in Game 1 on Wednesday night.—
Tim Reynolds,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2026
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Her belief in a universal truth was not unique, but her pursuit of it was relentless and oddly self-erasing.—
Eliza Goodpasture,
ARTnews.com,
3 June 2026
Verb
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And actually one of his first public acts after signing the Constitution was to petition Congress to abolish slavery.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
1 June 2026
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Avila Chevalier’s campaign priorities also include abolishing ICE, adding affordable housing and securing federal funds to repair the city’s public housing.—
Joseph Strauss,
Sun Sentinel,
1 June 2026
Verb
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Fueled by large stocks of critically dry vegetation and extreme winds, the fires killed 31 people, destroyed nearly 12,000 homes, and forced over 150,000 evacuations.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
31 May 2026
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But satellite images reviewed by CNN show how Iran has used simple equipment such as bulldozers and dump trucks to counter those costly campaigns — suggesting that Tehran’s missile capabilities can’t be destroyed just by targeting tunnel entrances, experts said.—
Tamara Qiblawi,
CNN Money,
31 May 2026
Verb
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Dario Amodei, co-founder of Anthropic, has been outspoken about the risks of artificial intelligence wiping out half of all entry-level jobs and driving unemployment up by 20%.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
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After radiation wiped out the soil microbes, the carbon emission rate declined quickly but didn’t disappear.—
Siddhant Pusdekar,
Quanta Magazine,
1 June 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Sweep (away).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sweep%20%28away%29. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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