make a clean sweep
to throw away all useless things
TRANSLATION
make a clean sweep = alles abräumen
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Olympic swimmer Natalie du Toit just needs the 50 metres freestyle to MAKE A CLEAN SWEEP and match the number of gold medals she won in Athens in 2004.
(AFP)
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Italy MADE A CLEAN SWEEP in the first round of the UEFA Cup as all four Series A sides recorded first-leg victories.
(www.uefa.com)
Did you
know?
make a clean sweep
idiom
- to win a competition or an election very easily or to win all the prizes in a competition
(Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms)
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WORD ORIGIN
The expression "make a clean sweep" comes from the idea of sweeping something so that is totally clean. It describes a decisive victory, or when a competitor or team wins each competition in a series of matches.
The expression is also used when a company or organisation replaces a group of key employees, usually managers, with a new team.
In naval terms, a clean sweep refers to having "swept the enemy from the seas," a completely successful mission. This was traditionally indicated by hanging a broom from a ship's mast or tying it to the observation tower on a submarine.
During World War II, if a submarine sank every target it engaged, the US submarine service called the mission a clean sweep.
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Practive OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"The sales department had a clean sweep last month, they won every order they pitched for."
