Chapter 127

2. (Naut.) To cause (a boat) to become filled with water; to capsize or sink by whelming with water.

3. Fig.: To plunge into difficulties and perils; to overwhelm; to ruin; to wreck.

The Whig majority of the house of Lords was swamped by the creation of twelve Tory peers.

J. R. Green.

Having swamped himself in following the ignis fatuus of a theory.

Sir W. Hamilton.

Swamp, v. i. 1. To sink or stick in a swamp; figuratively, to become involved in insuperable difficulties.

2. To become filled with water, as a boat; to founder; to capsize or sink; figuratively, to be ruined; to be wrecked.

Swamp"y (?), a. Consisting of swamp; like a swamp; low, wet, and spongy; as, swampy land.

Swan (?), n. [AS. swan; akin to D. zwaan, OHG. swan, G. schwan, Icel. svanr, Sw. svan, Dan. svane; and perhaps to E. sound something audible.] 1. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of large aquatic birds belonging to Cygnus, Olor, and allied genera of the subfamily Cygninæ. They have a large and strong beak and a long neck, and are noted for their graceful movements when swimming. Most of the northern species are white. In literature the swan was fabled to sing a melodious song, especially at the time of its death.

The European white, or mute, swan (Cygnus gibbus), which is most commonly domesticated, bends its neck in an S-shaped curve. The whistling, or trumpeting, swans of the genus Olor do not bend the neck in an S-shaped curve, and are noted for their loud and sonorous cry, due to complex convolutions of the windpipe. To this genus belong the European whooper, or whistling swan (Olor cygnus), the American whistling swan (O. Columbianus), and the trumpeter swan (O. buccinator). The Australian black swan (Chenopis atrata) is dull black with white on the wings, and has the bill carmine, crossed with a white band. It is a very graceful species and is often domesticated. The South American black-necked swan (Sthenelides melancorypha) is a very beautiful and graceful species, entirely white, except the head and neck, which are dark velvety seal-brown. Its bill has a double bright rose-colored knob.

2. Fig.: An appellation for a sweet singer, or a poet noted for grace and melody; as Shakespeare is called the swan of Avon.

3. (Astron.) The constellation Cygnus.

Swan goose (Zoöl.), a bird of India (Cygnopsis cygnoides) resembling both the swan and the goose. -- Swan shot, a large size of shot used in fowling.

Swang (?), obs. imp. of Swing.

Swang, n. [Cf. Swamp.] A swamp. [Prov. Eng.]

Swan"herd` (?), n. One who tends or marks swans; as, the royal swanherd of England.

Swan"-hop`ping (?), n. A corruption of Swan-upping. [Eng.] Encyc. Brit.

Swan"i*mote (?), n. (Eng. Forest Law) See Swainmote.

{ Swank"ie, Swank"y } (?), n. [Cf. G. schwank flexible, pliant.] An active and clever young fellow. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

Swan"like` (?), a. Resembling a swan.

Swan"mark` (?), n. A mark of ownership cut on the bill or swan. [Eng.] Encyc. Brit.

Swan"ner*y (?), n. A place where swans are bred. "The largest swannery in England." Encyc. Brit.

Swan"ny (?), a. Swanlike; as, a swanny glossiness of the neck. Richardson.

Swan"pan (?), n. [Cf. Schwanpan.] The Chinese abacus; a schwanpan. S. W. Williams.

{ Swan's"-down` (?), or Swans"-down` }, n. 1. The down, or fine, soft feathers, of the swan, used on various articles of dress.

2. A fine, soft, thick cloth of wool mixed with silk or cotton; a sort of twilled fustian, like moleskin.

Swan's-down cotton. See Cotton flannel, under Cotton.

Swan"skin` (?), n. 1. The act of a swan with the down or the feathers on.

2. A species of soft flannel, thick and warm.

Swan"-up`ping (?), n. A yearly expedition on the Thames to take up young swans and mark them, as by Companies of Dyers and Vintners; -- called also swan- hopping. [Eng.] Encyc. Brit.

Swap (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swapped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Swapping.] [OE. swappen to strike; cf. E. to strike a bargain; perh. akin to E. sweep. Cf. Swap a blow, Swap, v. i.] [Written also swop.] 1. To strike; -- with off. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] "Swap off his head!" Chaucer.

2. To exchange (usually two things of the same kind); to swop. [Colloq.] Miss Edgeworth.

Swap, v. i. [Cf. Swap, v. t.] 1. To fall or descend; to rush hastily or violently. C. Richardson (Dict.).

All suddenly she swapt adown to ground.

Chaucer.

2. To beat the air, or ply the wings, with a sweeping motion or noise; to flap.

Swap, n. [Cf. G. schwapp, n., a slap, swap, schwapp, schwapps, interj., slap! smack! and E. swap, v.t.] 1. A blow; a stroke. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

2. An exchange; a barter. [Colloq.] Sir W. Scott.

Swap, adv. [See Swap, n.] Hastily. [Prov. Eng.]

Swape (?), n. See Sweep, n., 12.

Sward (?), n. [AS. sweard skin, covering; akin to OFries. swarge, D. zwoord, G. schwarte, Icel. svör&?;r skin, sward of the earth.] 1. Skin; covering. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

2. The grassy surface of land; that part of the soil which is filled with the roots of grass; turf.

The sward was trim as any garden lawn.

Tennyson.

Sward pork, bacon in large fitches. [Prov. Eng.]

Sward, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Swarded (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Swarding.] To produce sward upon; to cover, or be covered, with sward. Mortimer.

Sward"-cut`ter (?), n. (a) A plow for turning up grass land. (b) A lawn mower.

Sward"ed, a. Covered with sward. Mrs. Browning.

Sward"y (?), a. Covered with sward or grass.

Sware (?), imp. of Swear. [Obs. or Poetic]

Cophetua sware a royal oath.

Tennyson.

Swarf (?), v. i. [Cf. Swerve.] To grow languid; to faint. [Scot.] "To swarf for very hunger." Sir W. Scott.

Swarf, n. [Cf. Swerve.] The grit worn away from grindstones in grinding cutlery wet. [Prov. Eng.]

Swarm (?), v. i. [Cf. Swerve.] To climb a tree, pole, or the like, by embracing it with the arms and legs alternately. See Shin. [Colloq.]

At the top was placed a piece of money, as a prize for those who could swarm up and seize it.

W. Coxe.

Swarm, n. [OE. swarm, AS. swearm; akin to D. zwerm, G. schwarm, OHG. swaram, Icel. svarmr a tumult, Sw. svärm a swarm, Dan. sværm, and G. schwirren to whiz, to buzz, Skr. svar to sound, and perhaps to E. swear. √177. Cf. Swerve, Swirl.] 1. A large number or mass of small animals or insects, especially when in motion. "A deadly swarm of hornets." Milton.

2. Especially, a great number of honeybees which emigrate from a hive at once, and seek new lodgings under the direction of a queen; a like body of bees settled permanently in a hive. "A swarm of bees." Chaucer.

3. Hence, any great number or multitude, as of people in motion, or sometimes of inanimate objects; as, a swarm of meteorites.

Those prodigious swarms that had settled themselves in every part of it [Italy].

Addison.

Syn. -- Multitude; crowd; throng.

Swarm, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Swarmed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Swarming.] 1. To collect, and depart from a hive by flight in a body; -- said of bees; as, bees swarm in warm, clear days in summer.

2. To appear or collect in a crowd; to throng together; to congregate in a multitude. Chaucer.

3. To be crowded; to be thronged with a multitude of beings in motion.

Every place swarms with soldiers.

Spenser.

4. To abound; to be filled (with). Atterbury.

5. To breed multitudes.

Not so thick swarmed once the soil Bedropped with blood of Gorgon.

Milton.

Swarm, v. t. To crowd or throng. Fanshawe.

Swarm"spore` (?), n. 1. (Bot.) One of innumerable minute, motile, reproductive bodies, produced asexually by certain algæ and fungi; a zoöspore.

2. (Zoöl.) One of the minute flagellate germs produced by the sporulation of a protozoan; -- called also zoöspore.

Swart (?), n. Sward. [Obs.] Holinshed.

Swart (?), a. [OE. swart, AS. sweart black; akin to OFries, OS. & LG. swart, D. zwart, G. schwartz, OHG. swarz, Icel. svarir, Sw. svart, Dan. sort, Goth. swarts; cf. L. sordes dirt, sordere to be dirty. Cf. Sordid, Surd.] 1. Of a dark hue; moderately black; swarthy; tawny. "Swart attendants." Trench. "Swart savage maids." Hawthorne.

A nation strange, with visage swart.

Spenser.

2. Gloomy; malignant. [Obs.] Milton.

Swart star, the Dog Star; -- so called from its appearing during the hot weather of summer, which makes swart the countenance. [R.] Milton.

Swart, v. t. To make swart or tawny; as, to swart a living part. Sir T. Browne.

Swart"back` (?), n. (Zoöl.) The black-backed gull (Larus marinus); -- called also swarbie. [Prov. Eng.]

Swarth (?), a. Swart; swarthy. "A swarth complexion." Chapman.

Swarth (?), n. An apparition of a person about to die; a wraith. [Prov. Eng.] Grose.

Swarth, n. [See Sward.] Sward; short grass.

Grassy swarth, close cropped by nibbling sheep.

Cowper.

Swarth, n. See Swath.

Swarth"i*ly (?), adv. In a swarthy manner; with a tawny hue; duskily.

Swarth"i*ness, n. The quality or state of being swarthy; a dusky or dark complexion; tawniness.

Swarth"ness, n. Swarthiness. [R.] Dr. R. Clerke.

Swarth"y (?), a. [Compar. Swarthier (?); superl. Swarthiest.] [See Swart, a.] Being of a dark hue or dusky complexion; tawny; swart; as, swarthy faces. "A swarthy Ethiope." Shak.

Their swarthy hosts would darken all our plains.

Addison.

Swarth"y, v. t. To make swarthy. [Obs.] Cowley.

Swart"i*ness (?), n. Swarthiness. [Obs.]

Swart"ish, a. Somewhat swart, dark, or tawny.

Swart"ness, n. The quality or state of being swart.

Swart"y (?), a. Swarthy; tawny. [Obs.] Burton.

Swarve (?), v. i. [See Swerve.] 1. To swerve. [Obs. or Scot.] Spenser. Jamieson.

2. To climb. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Swash (?), n. [Cf. Swash, v. i., Squash, v. t.] (Arch.) An oval figure, whose moldings are oblique to the axis of the work. Moxon.

Swash plate (Mach.), a revolving circular plate, set obliquely on its shaft, and acting as a cam to give a reciprocating motion to a rod in a direction parallel to the shaft.

Swash, a. [Cf. Swash, v. i., Squash, v. t.] Soft, like fruit too ripe; swashy. [Prov. Eng.] Pegge.

Swash, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Swashed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Swashing.] [Probably of imitative origin; cf. Sw. svasska to splash, and, for sense 3, Sw. svassa to bully, to rodomontade.] 1. To dash or flow noisily, as water; to splash; as, water swashing on a shallow place.

2. To fall violently or noisily. [Obs.] Holinshed.

3. To bluster; to make a great noise; to vapor or brag.

Swash, n. 1. Impulse of water flowing with violence; a dashing or splashing of water.

2. A narrow sound or channel of water lying within a sand bank, or between a sand bank and the shore, or a bar over which the sea washes.

3. Liquid filth; wash; hog mash. [Obs.]

4. A blustering noise; a swaggering behavior. [Obs.]

5. A swaggering fellow; a swasher.

Swash"buc`kler (?), n. A bully or braggadocio; a swaggering, boastful fellow; a swaggerer. Milton.

Swash"er (?), n. One who makes a blustering show of valor or force of arms. Shak.

Swash"ing, a. 1. Swaggering; hectoring. "A swashing and martial outside." Shak.

2. Resounding; crushing. "Swashing blow." Shak.

Swash"way` (?), n. Same as 4th Swash, 2.

Swash"y (?), a. Soft, like fruit that is too ripe; quashy; swash. [Prov. Eng.]

Swat (swt), obs. imp. of Sweat. Chaucer.

Swatch (?), n. 1. A swath. [Obs.] Tusser.

2. A piece, pattern, or sample, generally of cloth. Halliwell. Jamieson.

Swate (swt), obs. imp. of Sweat. Thomson.

Swath (swth; 277), n. [AS. swaðu a track, trace; akin to D. zwaad, zwad, zwade, a swath of grass, G. schwad, schwaden; perhaps, originally, a shred. Cf. Swathe, v. t.] 1. A line of grass or grain cut and thrown together by the scythe in mowing or cradling.

2. The whole sweep of a scythe, or the whole breadth from which grass or grain is cut by a scythe or a machine, in mowing or cradling; as, to cut a wide swath.

3. A band or fillet; a swathe. Shak.

Swath bank, a row of new-mown grass. [Prov. Eng.]

Swathe (sw), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swathed (swd); p. pr. & vb. n. Swathing.] [OE. swathen, AS. sweðain. See Swath, n., and cf. Swaddle.] To bind with a swathe, band, bandage, or rollers.

Their children are never swathed or bound about with any thing when they are first born.

Abp. Abbot.

Swathe, n. A bandage; a band; a swath.

Wrapped me in above an hundred yards of swathe.

Addison.

Milk and a swathe, at first, his whole demand.

Young.

The solemn glory of the afternoon, with its long swathes of light between the far off rows of limes.

G. Eliot.

Swath"er (?), n. [See Swath, n.] (Agric.) A device attached to a mowing machine for raising the uncut fallen grain and marking the limit of the swath.

Swat"te (?), obs. imp. of Sweat. Chaucer.

Sway (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swayed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Swaying.] [OE. sweyen, Icel. sveigja, akin to E. swing; cf. D. zwaaijen to wield, swing. See Swing, and cf. Swag, v. i.] 1. To move or wield with the hand; to swing; to wield; as, to sway the scepter.

As sparkles from the anvil rise, When heavy hammers on the wedge are swayed.

Spenser.

2. To influence or direct by power and authority; by persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide.

The will of man is by his reason swayed.

Shak.

She could not sway her house.

Shak.

This was the race To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.

Dryden.

3. To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp; as, reeds swayed by wind; judgment swayed by passion.

As bowls run true by being made On purpose false, and to be swayed.

Hudibras.

Let not temporal and little advantages sway you against a more durable interest.

Tillotson.

4. (Naut.) To hoist; as, to sway up the yards.

Syn. -- To bias; rule; govern; direct; influence; swing; move; wave; wield.

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Sway (?), v. i. 1. To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline.

The balance sways on our part.

Bacon.

2. To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward.

3. To have weight or influence.

The example of sundry churches . . . doth sway much.

Hooker.

4. To bear sway; to rule; to govern.

Hadst thou swayed as kings should do.

Shak.

Sway, n. 1. The act of swaying; a swaying motion; the swing or sweep of a weapon.

With huge two-handed sway brandished aloft.

Milton.

2. Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side; as, the sway of desires. A. Tucker.

3. Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.

Expert When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway Of battle.

Milton.

4. Rule; dominion; control. Cowper.

When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, The post of honor is a private station.

Addison.

5. A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Syn. -- Rule; dominion; power; empire; control; influence; direction; preponderance; ascendency.

Sway"-backed` (?), a. Having the back hollow or sagged, whether naturally or as the result of injury or weakness; -- said of horses and other animals.

Sway"-bra`cing (?), n. (Engin.) The horizontal bracing of a bridge, which prevents its swaying.

Swayed (?), a. Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; -- said of a horse. Shak.

Sway"ful (?), a. Able to sway. [R.] Rush.

Sway"ing, n. An injury caused by violent strains or by overloading; -- said of the backs of horses. Crabb.

Sweal (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Swealed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Swealing.] [OE. swelen to burn, AS. swelan; akin to G. schwelen to burn slowly, schwül sultry, Icel. svæla a thick smoke.] To melt and run down, as the tallow of a candle; to waste away without feeding the flame. [Written also swale.] Sir W. Scott.

Sweal, v. t. To singe; to scorch; to swale; as, to sweal a pig by singeing off the hair.

Swear (?), v. i. [imp. Swore (?), formerly Sware (&?;); p. p. Sworn (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Swearing.] [OE. swerien, AS. swerian; akin to D. zweren, OS. swerian, OHG. swerien, G. schwören, Icel. sverja, Sw. svärja, Dan. sværge, Icel. & Sw. svara to answer, Dan. svare, Dan. & Sw. svar an answer, Goth. swaran to swear, and perhaps to E. swarm. &radic;177. Cf. Answer.] 1. To affirm or utter a solemn declaration, with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed; to make a promise, threat, or resolve on oath; also, to affirm solemnly by some sacred object, or one regarded as sacred, as the Bible, the Koran, etc.

Ye shall swear by my name falsely.

Lev. xix. 12.

I swear by all the Roman gods.

Shak.

2. (Law) To give evidence on oath; as, to swear to the truth of a statement; he swore against the prisoner.

3. To make an appeal to God in an irreverant manner; to use the name of God or sacred things profanely; to call upon God in imprecation; to curse.

[I] swore little; diced not above seven times a week.

Shak.

To swear by, to place great confidence in a person or thing; to trust implicitly as an authority. "I simply meant to ask if you are one of those who swear by Lord Verulam." Miss Edgeworth. -- To swear off, to make a solemn vow, or a serious resolution, to abstain from something; as, to swear off smoking. [Slang]

Swear, v. t. 1. To utter or affirm with a solemn appeal to God for the truth of the declaration; to make (a promise, threat, or resolve) under oath.

Swear unto me here by God, that thou wilt not deal falsely with me.

Gen. xxi. 23.

He swore consent to your succession.

Shak.

2. (Law) To put to an oath; to cause to take an oath; to administer an oath to; -- ofetn followed by in or into; as, to swear witnesses; to swear a jury; to swear in an officer; he was sworn into office.

3. To declare or charge upon oath; as, he swore treason against his friend. Johnson.

4. To appeal to by an oath.

Now, by Apollo, king, Thou swear'st thy gods in vain.

Shak.

To swear the peace against one, to make oath that one is under the actual fear of death or bodily harm from the person, in which case the person must find sureties that he will keep the peace.

Swear"er (?), n. 1. One who swears; one who calls God to witness for the truth of his declaration.

2. A profane person; one who uses profane language.

Then the liars and swearers are fools.

Shak.

Swear"ing, a. & n. from Swear, v.

Idle swearing is a cursedness.

Chaucer.

Sweat (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sweat or Sweated (Obs. Swat (&?;)); p. pr. & vb. n. Sweating.] [OE. sweten, AS. swætan, fr. swt, n., sweat; akin to OFries. & OS. swt, D. zweet, OHG. sweiz, G. schweiss, Icel. sviti, sveiti, Sw. svett, Dan. sved, L. sudor sweat, sudare to sweat, Gr. &?;, &?;, sweat, &?; to sweat, Skr. svda sweat, svid to sweat. &radic;178. Cf. Exude, Sudary, Sudorific.] 1. To excrete sensible moisture from the pores of the skin; to perspire. Shak.

2. Fig.: To perspire in toil; to work hard; to drudge.

He 'd have the poets sweat.

Waller.

3. To emit moisture, as green plants in a heap.

Sweat, v. t. 1. To cause to excrete moisture from the skin; to cause to perspire; as, his physicians attempted to sweat him by most powerful sudorifics.

2. To emit or suffer to flow from the pores; to exude.

It made her not a drop for sweat.

Chaucer.

With exercise she sweat ill humors out.

Dryden.

3. To unite by heating, after the application of soldier.

4. To get something advantageous, as money, property, or labor from (any one), by exaction or oppression; as, to sweat a spendthrift; to sweat laborers. [Colloq.]

To sweat coin, to remove a portion of a piece of coin, as by shaking it with others in a bag, so that the friction wears off a small quantity of the metal.

The only use of it [money] which is interdicted is to put it in circulation again after having diminished its weight by "sweating", or otherwise, because the quantity of metal contains is no longer consistent with its impression.

R. Cobden.

Sweat (?), n. [Cf. OE. swot, AS. swt. See Sweat, v. i.] 1. (Physiol.) The fluid which is excreted from the skin of an animal; the fluid secreted by the sudoriferous glands; a transparent, colorless, acid liquid with a peculiar odor, containing some fatty acids and mineral matter; perspiration. See Perspiration.

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.

Gen. iii. 19.

2. The act of sweating; or the state of one who sweats; hence, labor; toil; drudgery. Shak.

3. Moisture issuing from any substance; as, the sweat of hay or grain in a mow or stack. Mortimer.

4. The sweating sickness. [Obs.] Holinshed.

5. (Man.) A short run by a race horse in exercise.

Sweat box (Naut.), a small closet in which refractory men are confined. -- Sweat glands (Anat.), sudoriferous glands. See under Sudoriferous.

Sweat"er (?), n. 1. One who sweats.

2. One who, or that which, causes to sweat; as: (a) A sudorific. (b) A woolen jacket or jersey worn by athletes. (c) An employer who oppresses his workmen by paying low wages. [Slang]

Sweat"i*ly (?), adv. In a sweaty manner.

Sweat"i*ness, n. Quality or state of being sweaty.

Sweat"ing, a. & n. from Sweat, v.

Sweating bath, a bath producing sensible sweat; a stove or sudatory. -- Sweating house, a house for sweating persons in sickness. -- Sweating iron, a kind of knife, or a piece of iron, used to scrape off sweat, especially from horses; a horse scraper. -- Sweating room. (a) A room for sweating persons. (b) (Dairying) A room for sweating cheese and carrying off the superfluous juices. -- Sweating sickness (Med.), a febrile epidemic disease which prevailed in some countries of Europe, but particularly in England, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, characterized by profuse sweating. Death often occured in a few hours.

Sweat"y (?), a. [Compar. Sweatier (?); superl. Sweatiest.] 1. Moist with sweat; as, a sweaty skin; a sweaty garment.

2. Consisting of sweat; of the nature of sweat.

No noisome whiffs or sweaty streams.

Swift.

3. Causing sweat; hence, laborious; toilsome; difficult. "The sweaty forge." Prior.

Swede (?), n. [Cf. G. Schwede.] 1. A native or inhabitant of Sweden.

2. (Bot.) A Swedish turnip. See under Turnip.

Swe`den*bor"gi*an (?), n. One who holds the doctrines of the New Jerusalem church, as taught by Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish philosopher and religious writer, who was born a. d. 1688 and died 1772. Swedenborg claimed to have intercourse with the spiritual world, through the opening of his spiritual senses in 1745. He taught that the Lord Jesus Christ, as comprehending in himself all the fullness of the Godhead, is the one only God, and that there is a spiritual sense to the Scriptures, which he (Swedenborg) was able to reveal, because he saw the correspondence between natural and spiritual things.

Swe`den*bor"gi*an, a. Of or pertaining to Swedenborg or his views.

Swe`den*bor"gi*an*ism (?), n. The doctrines of the Swedenborgians.

Swed"ish (?), a. [Cf. G. schwedisch, Sw. svensk.] Of or pertaining to Sweden or its inhabitants.

Swedish turnip. (Bot.) See under Turnip.

Swed"ish, n. The language of Swedes.

Swee"ny (?), n. (Far.) An atrophy of the muscles of the shoulder in horses; also, atrophy of any muscle in horses. [Written also swinney.]

Sweep (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swept (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Sweeping.] [OE. swepen; akin to AS. swpan. See Swoop, v. i.] 1. To pass a broom across (a surface) so as to remove loose dirt, dust, etc.; to brush, or rub over, with a broom for the purpose of cleaning; as, to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney. Used also figuratively.

I will sweep it with the besom of destruction.

Isa. xiv. 23.

2. To drive or carry along or off with a broom or a brush, or as if with a broom; to remove by, or as if by, brushing; as, to sweep dirt from a floor; the wind sweeps the snow from the hills; a freshet sweeps away a dam, timber, or rubbish; a pestilence sweeps off multitudes.

The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies.

Isa. xxviii. 17.

I have already swept the stakes.

Dryden.

3. To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.

Their long descending train, With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain.

Dryden.

4. To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence, to carry in a stately or proud fashion.

And like a peacock sweep along his tail.

Shak.