扫 (sǎo) - to sweep & to clean

扫Tone 3

sǎo ｜ 6 strokes ｜ radical: 扌

三姗

扫 · sǎo

to sweep;

to clean;

to clear away;

to wipe out;

to pass quickly

to sweepto cleanto clear away

Usage highlights

sweep the floorscan codeclear awaysweep cleanscanning deviceanti

Synonyms

  • 清扫— to clean up, to sweep
  • 打扫— to clean, to sweep
  • 清除— to clear away, to remove

Antonyms

  • 堆积— to pile up, to accumulate
  • 弄脏— to dirty, to soil

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • Please sweep the floor (扫地).
  • She is scanning the QR code (扫描二维码).
  • We need to clear away the obstacles (扫除障碍).
  • The police conducted a raid (扫黄打非).

Collocations

  • sweep the floor(扫地)
  • scan code(扫码)
  • clear away(扫除)
  • sweep clean(扫净)
  • scanning device(扫描仪)
  • anti-pornography campaign(扫黄)

Idioms

  • Sweep away like autumn leaves(秋风扫落叶)
  • Sweep away all obstacles(横扫千军)
  • Sweep the snow to find plum blossoms(扫雪寻梅)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Traditionally associated with cleaning and purification rituals before important festivals like Chinese New Year.
  • In modern usage, extended to technological contexts like scanning and digital sweeping.

FAQ