make a clean sweep
Idioms-
Remove or eliminate unwanted persons or things, as in The new owners made a clean sweep of the place, intending to replace all the equipment . This phrase replaced the much older (16th-century) general sweep . [Mid-1800s]
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Win overwhelmingly, as in Our candidate made a clean sweep of all the districts . This usage is most often found with reference to success in a sports competition or election.
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.
“Seattle may win tonight, but after that, I shall be greatly surprised if my men do not make a clean sweep of it.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 26, 2017
When it comes to organizing, make a clean sweep and resolve to start -- this is often the biggest hurdle to cross.
From US News ● Jun. 4, 2015
It’s a race to the starting line this frigid Monday morning, and anyone hoping to make a clean sweep of the day’s events will have to be up by cock’s-crow, or just about.
From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2015
Writing on Facebook, : "The reason given was that the new channel controller wanted to make a clean sweep."
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2011
Evidently the Germans had tried to make a clean sweep of the forty miles and more they covered like a vast fan, in falling back to the prepared positions along the Aisne.
From The Big Five Motorcycle Boys on the Battle Line Or, With the Allies in France by Ralph Marlow
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.
