subs. (colloquial).—1. A sweepstakes.
2. (common).—A term of contempt: e.g., ‘What a SWEEP the man is’; ‘You dirty SWEEP.’
TO SWEEP THE BOARD, verb. phr. (orig. gaming: now general).—To take everything; to pocket all the stakes. Also TO MAKE A CLEAN SWEEP = to CLEAN OUT (q.v.); to remove entirely. Also SWEEP = at whist, taking all the tricks in the hand; a SLAM (q.v.).
1680. COTTON, The Compleat Gamester, in S. W. SINGER, Researches into the History of Playing Cards, (1816), 346. He who hath five cards of a suit … SWEEPS THE BOARD.
1711. POPE, The Rape of the Lock, iii. 49.
| Spadillio first unconquerable lord! | |
| Led off two captive trumps, and SWEPT THE BOARD. |
1822. SCOTT, The Fortunes of Nigel, xxi. ’Tis the sitting gamester SWEEPS THE BOARD.
1868. J. H. BLUNT, The Reformation of the Church England, I. 318. The CLEAN SWEEP which had been made of so many ancient rights, did, in fact, throw the clergy and monks into an utter panic.
1871. H. B. STOWE, Oldtown Fireside Stories, 163. They [Indians] burnt thirty-two houses in Springfield … MADE A CLEAN SWEEP on’t.
THE SWEEPS, subs. phr. (military).—The Rifle Brigade. [Their facings from formation (1800) have been black.]
