clean sweep
Americannoun
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an overwhelming or decisive victory, as by a political candidate who wins in all or almost all election districts.
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the winning of all the prizes, rounds, contests, etc., in a competition or of all the games in a series.
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a thorough or sweeping change, especially one effected by the large-scale removal or elimination of unwanted persons or things.
The new president made a clean sweep when he joined the company, replacing all the department heads.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Surely someone would have carried the can if the away Ashes had been lost 5-0, a clean sweep avoided when England scraped a win in Melbourne.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
Wales suffered another Six Nations clean sweep after losing to Italy, a result which extends their winless run to a record nine Tests.
From BBC ● May 17, 2026
Securing the clean sweep at a considerably younger age than Djokovic further adds to the Italian's accomplishment.
From BBC ● May 17, 2026
Nvidia’s sales growth isn’t slowing soon, but round two of the AI hardware battle—the inference phase—might not be the clean sweep for Nvidia that round one was.
From Barron's ● Mar. 18, 2026
It will be one clean sweep, left to right.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
