Sweep or swept may refer to:

Cleaning

* Sweep, the action of using a

brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped during u ...

to clean *

Chimney sweep A chimney sweep is a person who inspects then clears soot and creosote from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combust ...

, a worker who clears ash and soot from chimneys *

Street sweeper A street sweeper or street cleaner is a person or machine that cleans streets. People have worked in cities as "sanitation workers" since sanitation and Waste management, waste removal became a priority. A street-sweeping person would use a b ...

, a person's occupation, or a machine that cleans streets * Swept quartz, a cleaning of quartz crystal from alkali metal ions

Arts, entertainment, and media

* ''Sweep'' (book series), a fictional series by Cate Tiernan * Sweep (puppet), a character on the British children's television series ''The Sooty Show'' * Sweep, an ability keyword in '' Magic: The Gathering'' * Sweep-picking, a guitar technique * Sweeps period, a system of calculating viewership for television programming * ''Swept'' (album), a 1991 album by the English singer Julia Fordham * "Swept", a 1986 song by

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet ( ) were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids (New Romantics), ...

from the album '' Through the Barricades''

Detection

* Bug sweeping, the common name for electronic counter surveillance *

Minesweeper (ship) A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

, a small naval ship designed to engage in minesweeping * Minesweeping, the practice of removing explosive mines * Radio-frequency sweep, the action of scanning a radio frequency band for detecting signals transmitted there * SWEEPS, a 2006 astronomical survey project using the Hubble Space Telescope

Farming

* Sweep (agricultural), a row crop cultivator * SWEEP (Soil and Water Environmental Enhancement program), a Canadian agricultural program 1986–1988

People with the name

* Shaun Wright-Phillips, a football player nicknamed Sweep

Sports

* Sweep (American football), a running play in American football ** Packers sweep, a running play popularized by Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers *

Sweep (martial arts) A sweep is either of two categories of martial arts techniques. From standing, sweeps are throws or takedowns that primarily use the legs to attack an opponent's legs. On the ground, sweeps are techniques for reversing a grappling position A ...

, the name used for two categories of martial arts techniques * Sweep (rowing), a rowing technique * Sweep shot, a shot played in cricket * Sweep (sports), or whitewash, winning a series or contest without any losses *

Curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

involves sweeping on ice

Other meanings

* Sweep (fish), a number of fish in the suborder Scorpidinae *

Sweep (horse) Sweep (foaled 1907 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse. Background Sweep was bred by James R. Keene. He was sired by Kentucky Derby winner Ben Brush out of the Domino (horse), Domino mare Pink Domino. he was trai ...

(1907–1936), champion Thoroughbred race horse * Sweep (motorcycle), in group motorcycle riding, the last rider in line *

Sweep (software) Sweep is a free and open-sourced digital audio editor and live playback tool for Unix-like systems such as Linux and Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). Supported sound formats include MP3, AIFF, WAV, Speex and Ogg Vorbis. Originally develo ...

, a digital audio editor * Sweep, a gradual bend or elbow, in conduit, ductwork, piping, or other tubing * Well sweep, an irrigation tool *

Sweep account A sweep account is an account set up at a bank or other financial institution where the funds are automatically managed between a primary cash account and secondary investment accounts. Function A sweep account combines two or more accounts ...

, a kind of bank account *

Sweep line algorithm In computational geometry, a sweep line algorithm or plane sweep algorithm is an algorithmic paradigm that uses a conceptual ''sweep line'' or ''sweep surface'' to solve various problems in Euclidean space. It is one of the critical techniques in ...

, a concept in computational geometry * Sweeps, a regional English term for

windmill sail Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different forms, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails. Jib sails The jib sail is found in Mediterranean countries and consists of a simple triangle of cloth wound ...

s * Sweepstakes, a sales promotion or lottery *

Swept wing A swept wing is a wing angled either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than perpendicular to the fuselage. Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigated in Ge ...

, a layout of the wings on an airplane *

Selective sweep In genetics, a selective sweep is the process through which a new beneficial mutation that increases its frequency and becomes fixed (i.e., reaches a frequency of 1) in the population leads to the reduction or elimination of genetic variation amon ...

, a loss of genetic variation caused by selection for a beneficial mutation