swept

1. 1
   verb

   Past tense and past participle of sweep.

   Floodwaters swept the wooden bridge away during the night.

   He swept the broken glass into a dustpan before anyone got hurt.

   Note

   An irregular form in the keep–kept, sleep–slept family. The long vowel shortens and -t takes the place of -ed, so sweeped is a mistake. One shape serves every use of sweep: the broom (she swept the floor), the curler brushing ice ahead of a stone, the batter playing a sweep shot. As a participle it follows have or be, as in the room had been swept.

2. 2
   adjective

   Having had explosive mines located and removed, so the area is safe to enter or cross.

   The engineers reported that the entire approach road was swept by mid-afternoon.

   Only after the harbor was certified swept did the supply ships dock.

   Note

   A military term for water rather than land. It describes a channel, a harbor approach or a stretch of sea that minesweepers have cleared, and it pairs naturally with route or channel, as in a swept channel. It does not take degrees: water is swept or it is not, never more swept. Keep it apart from the everyday past tense, where a swept harbor might only have been cleaned.

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