sweep away

phrasal verb

swept away; sweeping away; sweeps away

: to destroy or remove (something) completely

Floods swept away several houses.

His performance today swept away any doubts about his ability to play.

Examples of sweep away in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Rescuers swept away in river Two police officers and a deputy jumped into the water and swam across the river to save them. —

Helena Wegner, Sacramento Bee, 30 May 2024 He was swept away a mile downstream, where he was found unconscious. —

Kerry Breen, CBS News, 25 May 2024 When these particulates are released in lower parts of the atmosphere, they’re swept away more quickly by precipitation. —

Lily Carey, Discover Magazine, 22 May 2024 The body of a Tennessee community college professor has been found after he was swept away by an wave in Brazil, his university said. —

Brian Brant, Peoplemag, 21 May 2024 Tennessee professor swept away by wave during Brazil study-abroad trip has died The trial is scheduled to begin on June 3 in Wilmington, Delaware, before Judge Maryellen Noreika. —

Lucien Bruggeman, ABC News, 21 May 2024 General Daily Insight for April 09, 2024 Our roots keep us from being swept away. —

Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 9 Apr. 2024 Last October, a historically high election turnout swept away the right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS), abruptly ending its eight years of total domination of Polish politics. —

Wiktor Babinski, National Review, 18 May 2024 On Tuesday, two siblings — ages 2 and 4 — died after being swept away in Mill Creek, in the San Bernardino Mountains. —

Bay Area News Group, The Mercury News, 10 May 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sweep away.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.