1
as in flows
to move or proceed smoothly and readily
the wind swept across the plain without respite
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in curves
to turn away from a straight line or course
from this point the mountain range sweeps to the northeast and extends into the next state
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in confines
an area over which activity, capacity, or influence extends
Mrs. Griswold has been a teacher for so long that the sweep of her influence extends across three generations of the townspeople
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sweeps
Thor Christensen, Dallas Morning News, 18 Mar. 2026
Any storms will have the potential for damaging winds until the cold front sweeps eastward on Monday morning.
—Stacey Duford, CBS News, 15 Mar. 2026
Paradise walks away with the Class 3A Division II crown as North Texas sweeps the 3A and 4A title games.
—Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Mar. 2026
Kansas City will go from springlike warmth to winter fast as a powerful storm sweeps through Sunday, bringing damaging winds, a rapid temperature plunge with flash-freeze risk, and a quick burst of snow that could cut visibility, according to the National Weather Service.
—Kansas City Star, 14 Mar. 2026
Ex-rapper's party sweeps Nepal election KATHMANDU, Nepal -- A political party created just four years ago and led by an ex-rapper has swept Nepal's parliamentary poll, results published by the electoral commission on Thursday showed.
—Arkansas Online, 13 Mar. 2026
In the first part of the two-episode finale, audiences are introduced to Bella (Emma Halleen), a perfectly normal high school student who watches as The Beauty craze sweeps through her world.
—Hunter Ingram, Variety, 5 Mar. 2026
At the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, Commander Tommy Nester finds it behind the ceiling panels, brushes it off the uniforms that aren’t behind glass and sweeps it from the baseboards of the main hall.
—Sarah Henry, AZCentral.com, 1 Mar. 2026
In just one week, a spectacular display of orbital mechanics will be visible to billions of people across the Americas, Asia, and Oceania, as Earth's shadow sweeps across the lunar disk, triggering the onset of an awe-inspiring 'blood moon' total lunar eclipse.
—Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 24 Feb. 2026
Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 11 Mar. 2026
Instead of detaining recent border crossers almost exclusively, Dilley is now also housing families that had established lives in the United States and were arrested in ICE sweeps.
—Caitlin Dickerson, The Atlantic, 10 Mar. 2026
Officers continue to conduct manual and K-9 sweeps of surrounding blocks, inspecting garbage cans, vehicles and other locations where additional devices could potentially be hidden.
—Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 8 Mar. 2026
Aggies looking for back-to-back season sweeps Faced with the opportunity to sweep rival Texas last week, A&M folded on its own floor.
—Tony Catalina, Austin American Statesman, 6 Mar. 2026
In IconArrows pointing outwards Getty Images A blaze sweeps following Israeli bombardment on a solar farm and electricity generation facility in Lebanon's southern coastal city of Tyre on March 4, 2026.
—Sam Meredith, CNBC, 5 Mar. 2026
On at least three occasions, one or more protesters interrupted the discussion with shouts from the balcony and floor seats, demanding Newsom do something about privatized prisons and the ICE sweeps of immigrants.
—Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2026
The mayor subsequently announced bringing back homeless encampments sweeps, in a reversal of his previous anti-sweep stance.
—Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 3 Mar. 2026
The police dogs and their handlers also put on 59 public displays and demonstrations for groups throughout Lake County, and the dogs did eight sweeps at schools to help ensure safety and interdict drug use.
—Clifford Ward, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2026
Verb
Even as change sweeps through Austin, many SXSW spots felt timeless — like the big public concerts at Lady Bird Lake, or the Red River venue Cheer Up Charlies, with its outdoor stage framed by a 30-foot-high limestone embankment, creating a cave-band vibe.
—Thor Christensen, Dallas Morning News, 18 Mar. 2026
Any storms will have the potential for damaging winds until the cold front sweeps eastward on Monday morning.
—Stacey Duford, CBS News, 15 Mar. 2026
Paradise walks away with the Class 3A Division II crown as North Texas sweeps the 3A and 4A title games.
—Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Mar. 2026
Kansas City will go from springlike warmth to winter fast as a powerful storm sweeps through Sunday, bringing damaging winds, a rapid temperature plunge with flash-freeze risk, and a quick burst of snow that could cut visibility, according to the National Weather Service.
—Kansas City Star, 14 Mar. 2026
Ex-rapper's party sweeps Nepal election KATHMANDU, Nepal -- A political party created just four years ago and led by an ex-rapper has swept Nepal's parliamentary poll, results published by the electoral commission on Thursday showed.
—Arkansas Online, 13 Mar. 2026
In the first part of the two-episode finale, audiences are introduced to Bella (Emma Halleen), a perfectly normal high school student who watches as The Beauty craze sweeps through her world.
—Hunter Ingram, Variety, 5 Mar. 2026
At the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, Commander Tommy Nester finds it behind the ceiling panels, brushes it off the uniforms that aren’t behind glass and sweeps it from the baseboards of the main hall.
—Sarah Henry, AZCentral.com, 1 Mar. 2026
In just one week, a spectacular display of orbital mechanics will be visible to billions of people across the Americas, Asia, and Oceania, as Earth's shadow sweeps across the lunar disk, triggering the onset of an awe-inspiring 'blood moon' total lunar eclipse.
—Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 24 Feb. 2026
Noun
Adding door sweeps can also help close gaps at the threshold.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 11 Mar. 2026
Instead of detaining recent border crossers almost exclusively, Dilley is now also housing families that had established lives in the United States and were arrested in ICE sweeps.
—Caitlin Dickerson, The Atlantic, 10 Mar. 2026
Officers continue to conduct manual and K-9 sweeps of surrounding blocks, inspecting garbage cans, vehicles and other locations where additional devices could potentially be hidden.
—Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 8 Mar. 2026
Aggies looking for back-to-back season sweeps Faced with the opportunity to sweep rival Texas last week, A&M folded on its own floor.
—Tony Catalina, Austin American Statesman, 6 Mar. 2026
In IconArrows pointing outwards Getty Images A blaze sweeps following Israeli bombardment on a solar farm and electricity generation facility in Lebanon's southern coastal city of Tyre on March 4, 2026.
—Sam Meredith, CNBC, 5 Mar. 2026
On at least three occasions, one or more protesters interrupted the discussion with shouts from the balcony and floor seats, demanding Newsom do something about privatized prisons and the ICE sweeps of immigrants.
—Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2026
The mayor subsequently announced bringing back homeless encampments sweeps, in a reversal of his previous anti-sweep stance.
—Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 3 Mar. 2026
The police dogs and their handlers also put on 59 public displays and demonstrations for groups throughout Lake County, and the dogs did eight sweeps at schools to help ensure safety and interdict drug use.
—Clifford Ward, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sweeps
Verb
-
The wind flows from the south, bringing heavy precipitation to areas usually sheltered from rain.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
20 Mar. 2026
-
Ridges are always flanked by low-pressure areas, and the air at the surface flows from the high to low pressure.—
Andrea Thompson,
Scientific American,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Representing a departure from the artist’s preferred medium of wood, the monument curves outward from a narrow base, its vertical form and vaguely human contours seeming to emanate light, notwithstanding the material’s heft.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Groovy Baby The color combinations on this retro stripe, which curves at the will of the nail artist, are endless.—
Audrey Noble,
Vogue,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Carlson-Wee drifts over to him.—
Clara Molot,
Vanity Fair,
17 Mar. 2026
-
One notable feature is how often the stock has managed to bottom once the RSI drifts toward the midpoint of its range.—
Frank Cappelleri,
CNBC,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Aleshire said the searches for the different positions are in separate scopes of the law.—
Lina Ruiz,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
17 Mar. 2026
-
Smart pills could provide doctors with new ways to access that information without putting patients through traditional scopes and sedation.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
True to its name, the Butter Melt Bronzer glides on like butter and melts seamlessly into skin, delivering a silky-smooth finish that never veers cakey, muddy, or heavy on dry skin.—
Lily Wohlner,
Allure,
11 Mar. 2026
-
As the Coast Starlight approaches the Bay Area, the train glides past marshlands, open water, and distant city skylines before continuing toward California’s Central Coast.—
Abby Price,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Stanton’s disdain for immigrants led her into emergent realms of pseudoscience that would transform into eugenics; her rhetoric about women strayed from the principle of gender equality into essentialist ideas about women’s feminine specialness.—
Moira Donegan,
New Yorker,
13 Mar. 2026
-
New realms would stop appearing; the intensities of the forces would stabilize; and gravity would turn out to make perfect sense after all.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Wu said the World of Wonder partnership opened an uncommon opportunity to document how a Thai artist navigates the upper reaches of global entertainment.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
19 Mar. 2026
-
On the desert floor, elevations are as low as 3,600 feet, but the highest reaches of the park are above 8,000 feet.—
Owen Clarke,
Outside,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Very different ranges there, too.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
15 Mar. 2026
-
As always, check the product label for specifics on temperature ranges, as different products and different species of plants all have different needs.—
Heather Zidack,
Hartford Courant,
14 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sweeps.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sweeps. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
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