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
This open-air display of some of humanity’s oldest works is being slowly erased by industrial pollution from a nearby gas plant, according to scientific studies that have been swept up in an almighty clash of competing ambitions for the region’s future.
—
Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 28 May 2025
Lawmakers were also swept up into an 11th-hour drama over the Chiefs and Royals as Gov. Mike Kehoe mounted a sudden push to pass a stadiums funding package that ran aground in the state Senate.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 22 May 2025
He’s consistently cast a cold, yet never chilly eye at his native country’s evolutions, devolutions and detours, with one orb always on the human beings swept up in and/or desperately swimming to keep pace with the waves of change.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2025
Deportations have also already swept up U.S. citizen children removed with their parents.
—Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for sweep up
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Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 28 May 2025
Lawmakers were also swept up into an 11th-hour drama over the Chiefs and Royals as Gov. Mike Kehoe mounted a sudden push to pass a stadiums funding package that ran aground in the state Senate.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 22 May 2025
He’s consistently cast a cold, yet never chilly eye at his native country’s evolutions, devolutions and detours, with one orb always on the human beings swept up in and/or desperately swimming to keep pace with the waves of change.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2025
Deportations have also already swept up U.S. citizen children removed with their parents.
—Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for sweep up
Cite this Entry
“Sweep up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sweep%20up. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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