sweep
/swip/verb, noun
sweep is spelled S-W-E-E-P: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 9.3 times per million words in written English, the 7,445th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, sweep means “To clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sweep?
| Letters | 5: S-W-E-E-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 9.3 times per million words; the 7,445th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is sweep?
Sweep appears 9.3 times per million words in written English, the 7,445th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sweep?
- UK /swiːp/
- US /swip/
- Australia /swiːp/
Sweep has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sweep.ogg, En-au-sweep.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with sweep?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as sweep from its last stressed vowel (/ip/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of sweep
- sweeps present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- sweeping participle, present
- swept participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sweep mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush.
to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney
- 2
To move through a (horizontal) arc or similar long stroke.
The wind sweeps across the plain.
- 3
To search (a place) methodically.
- 4
To travel quickly.
- 5
To play a sweep shot.
- 6
To brush the ice in front of a moving stone, causing it to travel farther and to curl less.
- 7
To move something in a long sweeping motion, as a broom.
- 8
To win (a series) without drawing or losing any of the games in that series.
noun
- 1
A single action of sweeping.
Give the front steps a quick sweep to get rid of those fallen leaves.
- 2
The person who steers a dragon boat.
- 3
A person who stands at the stern of a surf boat, steering with a steering oar and commanding the crew.
- 4
A chimney sweep.
- 5
A methodical search, typically for bugs (electronic listening devices).
- 6
A batsman's shot, played from a kneeling position with a swinging horizontal bat.
Bradman attempted a sweep, but in fact top edged the ball to the wicket keeper
- 7
A lottery, usually on the results of a sporting event, where players win if their randomly chosen team wins.
Jim will win fifty dollars in the office sweep if Japan wins the World Cup.
- 8
A flow of water parallel to shore caused by wave action at an ocean beach or at a point or headland.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sweep in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | balayer, brosser , balayage |
| German | fegen, kehren , Schwung , rauschen , auf den Kopf stellen, durchsuchen |
| Portuguese | varrer, escovar , varredura , rasteira |
| Spanish | barrer , peinar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sweep come from?
From Middle English swepen, from Proto-West Germanic *swaipijan (unattested in Old English), from Proto-Germanic *swaipijaną. Cognate with Early Modern West Frisian swiepe (“whip, cleanse, sweep”), from Old Frisian swēpa, suepa (“sweep”). More distantly related to Old Norse sveipa (whence Swedish svepa). See also swoop.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).