sweep something under the carpet

sweep something under the carpet
HIDE, conceal, suppress, hush up, keep quiet about, censor, gag, withhold, cover up, stifle.
sweep

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sweep something under the carpet phrase
to try to avoid dealing with a problem

You can’t just sweep these issues under the carpet.

Thesaurus: to avoid doing something, or to avoid somethingsynonym
Main entry: sweep

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sweep (something) under the carpet — see sweep, 1
• • •
Main Entry:carpet

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sweep sth under the ˈcarpet idiom
(US also sweep sth under the ˈrug) to try to stop people from finding out about sth wrong, illegal, embarrassing, etc. that has happened or that you have done

An earlier report, implicating the government, had been conveniently swept under the carpet.

see roar, romp, sweep, etc. to victory at victory n.
Main entry:sweepidiom

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • sweep something under the carpet — sweep (something) under the carpet British, American & Australian, American & Australian to try to hide a problem or keep a problem secret instead of dealing with it. The incident has forced into the open an issue that the government would rather …   New idioms dictionary

  • sweep something under the carpet — to try to avoid dealing with a problem You can t just sweep these issues under the carpet …   English dictionary

  • sweep something under the rug — (or carpet) conceal or ignore a problem or difficulty in the hope that it will be forgotten * * * sweep (something) under the rug see ↑sweep, 1 • • • Main Entry: ↑rug sweep (something) under the rug (US) (or chiefly Brit swee …   Useful english dictionary

  • sweep something under the carpet — conceal or ignore a problem or difficulty in the hope that it will be forgotten. → carpet …   English new terms dictionary

  • sweep under the carpet — To hide from someone s notice, put out of one s mind (unpleasant problems or facts) ● carpet * * * sweep (something) under the carpet see ↑sweep, 1 • • • Main Entry: ↑carpet …   Useful english dictionary

  • sweep under the carpet — sweep (something) under the carpet British, American & Australian, American & Australian to try to hide a problem or keep a problem secret instead of dealing with it. The incident has forced into the open an issue that the government would rather …   New idioms dictionary

  • sweep under the rug — verb to conceal something in the hopes it won t be discovered by others (Freq. 1) The president tried to sweep the embarrassing incident under the rug • Hypernyms: ↑hide, ↑conceal • Verb Frames: Somebody s something * * * sweep ( …   Useful english dictionary

  • sweep under the rug —    If you sweep something under the rug (or carpet), you try to hide it because it is embarrassing.     They tried unsuccessfully to sweep the scandal under the rug …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • carpet — late 13c., coarse cloth; mid 14c., tablecloth, bedspread; from O.Fr. carpite heavy decorated cloth, from M.L. carpita thick woolen cloth, pp. of L. carpere to card, pluck, probably so called because it was made from unraveled, shreded, plucked… …   Etymology dictionary

  • sweep — sweep1 [ swip ] (past tense and past participle swept [ swept ] ) verb ** ▸ 1 clean with long brush ▸ 2 move/spread quickly ▸ 3 look at/search ▸ 4 stretch over large area ▸ 5 win easily ▸ + PHRASES 1. ) intransitive or transitive to clean a floor …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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