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Sweep vs Length - What's the difference?

sweep | length | Related terms |

Sweep is a related term of length.


In figuratively|lang=en terms the difference between sweep and length

is that sweep is (figuratively) to travel quickly while length is (figuratively) total extent.

In cricket|lang=en terms the difference between sweep and length

is that sweep is (cricket) a batsman's shot, played from a kneeling position with a swinging horizontal bat while length is (cricket) the distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its way to the batsman.

As verbs the difference between sweep and length

is that sweep is to clean (a surface) by means of a motion of a broom or brush while length is (obsolete) to lengthen.

As nouns the difference between sweep and length

is that sweep is the person who steers a dragon boat while length is the distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.

sweep

English

Verb

  • To clean (a surface) by means of a motion of a broom or brush.
    • to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney
  • * (Bible), (w) xiv. 23
    • I will sweep it with the besom of destruction.
  • To move through an (horizontal) arc or similar long stroke.
  • * 2005 , (Lesley Brown) (translator), Sophist by (Plato), :
    • [H]as the course of the argument so accustomed you to agreeing that you were swept by it into a ready assent?
  • To search (a place) methodically.
  • (figuratively) To travel quickly.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=February 1, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC
    • , title= Arsenal 2-1 Everton , passage=Everton took that disputed lead in a moment that caused anger to sweep around the Emirates. }}
  • (cricket) To play a sweep shot.
  • (curling) To brush the ice in front of a moving stone, causing it to travel farther and to curl less.
  • (ergative) To move something in a particular motion, as a broom.
  • (sports) To win (a series) without drawing or losing any of the games in that series.
  • (sports) To defeat (a team) in a series without drawing or losing any of the games in that series.
  • To remove something abruptly and thoroughly.
    • The wind sweeps the snow from the hills.
    The flooded river swept away the wooden dam.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington
    • , volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}
  • To brush against or over; to rub lightly along.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
    • Their long descending train, / With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain.
  • *
    • Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […]  Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.
  • To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence, to carry in a stately or proud fashion.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
    • And like a peacock sweep along his tail.
  • To strike with a long stroke.
  • * (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
    • Wake into voice each silent string, / And sweep the sounding lyre.
  • (nautical) To draw or drag something over.
    • to sweep the bottom of a river with a net
  • To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation.
    • to sweep the heavens with a telescope

    Derived terms

    * sweeper * sweep across * sweep someone off their feet * sweep something under the rug * sweep up * sweepy

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The person who steers a dragon boat.
  • A person who stands at the stern of a surf boat, steering with a steering oar and commanding the crew.
  • A chimney sweep.
  • A search (typically for bugs [electronic listening devices]).
  • (cricket) A batsman's shot, played from a kneeling position with a swinging horizontal bat.
  • A lottery, usually on the results of a sporting event, where players win if their randomly chosen team wins.
    • Jim will win fifty dollars in the office sweep if Japan wins the World Cup.
  • A flow of water parallel to shore caused by wave action at an ocean beach or at a point or headland.
  • A single action of sweeping.
  • Violent and general destruction.
    • the sweep of an epidemic disease
  • (metalworking) A movable templet for making moulds, in loam moulding.
  • (card games) In the game casino, the act of capturing all face-up cards from the table.
  • The compass of any turning body or of any motion.
    • the sweep''' of a door; the '''sweep of the eye
  • Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, etc. away from a rectilinear line.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • the road which makes a small sweep
  • A large oar used in small vessels, partly to propel them and partly to steer them.
  • (refining, obsolete) The almond furnace.
  • A long pole, or piece of timber, moved on a horizontal fulcrum fixed to a tall post and used to raise and lower a bucket in a well for drawing water.
  • (in the plural) The sweepings of workshops where precious metals are worked, containing filings, etc.

    • Derived terms

    * chimney sweep * clean sweep * sweepstake

    References

    *

    Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs English irregular verbs

    length

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.
  • duration
  • * Robert Frost
    • Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length .
  • (horse racing) The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.
  • (mathematics) Distance between the two ends of a line segment.
  • (cricket) The distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its way to the batsman.
  • (figuratively) Total extent.
    • the length of a book
  • Part of something that is long; a physical piece of something.
    • a length of rope

    Derived terms

    * arm's length * at length * cable length * feature-length * floor-length * focal length * full-length * good length * go to great lengths * half-length * knee-length * lengthen * lengthful * length overall * lengthways * lengthwise * lengthy * line and length * null patch length * overlength * path length * screening length * short of a length * wavelength * zero-length launching

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To lengthen.
  • * 1599 , , XIV. 30:
    • Pack night, peep day; good day, of night now borrow: / Short night, to-night, and length thyself to-morrow.

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words