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.
Make a clean sweep and add Fort Carson, Colo., to the list for renaming.
From Washington Post
The Austrian was favoured to make a clean sweep of the Björn Borg Group against Berrettini, but will not be totally disheartened.
From The Guardian
The performance allowed the Bruins to nearly make a clean sweep of the Pac-12 Conference awards handed out Monday.
From Los Angeles Times
A trio of British men would make a clean sweep of cycling’s three Grand Tours.
From The Guardian
Mahathir said he also understood he could not make a clean sweep of suspected corruption and keep the government running, as it was hard to find “reliable people” to fill posts.
From Reuters
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.
