Dictionary

cut a wide swath en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (US) To clear a broad track through a grassland, woodland, geographical region, or other area, either by natural means or by human action.
   • Sherman started from Atlanta in the middle of November. He cut a wide swath of desolation through the South. 1876, William Swinton, A Condensed School History of the United States, Ivison, Blakeman, and Taylor (New York), p. 277
   • The twister cut a wide swath of destruction in Utica, a town of 2,000 people about 90 miles southwest of Chicago. 2004 April 21, “8 bodies pulled from twister-hit Illinois tavern”, in msnbc:
   • Swinging his bloody horns from side to side the beast cut a wide swath before him. 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 6, in At the Earth's Core:
2. (US, figuratively, idiomatic) To behave in an expansive, flagrantly showy, or pushy manner, especially in public venues; to exert sweeping influence.
   • With his signature red beret and class-based rhetoric, president Hugo Chavez has cut a wide swath through this oil-rich but impoverished nation. 2004 August 15, Gary Marx, “Venezuelans head to polls in president's recall election”, in San Diego Union Tribune:
   • Girls who like to cut a wide swath ought to come out to China, for they will have enough flattery and attention to turn their heads. 1899, Delight Sweetser Prentiss, One Way Round the World, 2nd edition, Bowen-Merrill, page 124:
   • During the two years that he [the Count] cut a wide swath in the city [Berlin] his name was constantly associated with that of some dancer, actress or other woman whose notoriety drew more attention than her talent. 1924, "Method in Kindness," Time, 21 Jan., quoting the Daily News (Manhattan)
   • The company certainly cut a wide swath in a conservative industry. 1998, Jeff Goldsmith, “Columbia/HCA: A Failure of Leadership”, in Health Affairs, volume 17, number 2, page 27:

Forms

Synonyms

gallery · show away · floss · three-sheet · high-side · boulevardier · swag it out · flex · let one's nuts hang · cut a wide swath · venditate · cut round · showboat · yaya · strut · ostentate · swank · swagger · figure away · throw one's weight around · preen · exhibitionize · strut one's stuff · aura farm · flaunt · ostent · flamboast · stunt · blaze a trail · show off · swagger · fluff one's feathers · cut a swath · cut it fat · show off

Translations (7)

pl zrobić duże wrażenie (to exert sweeping influence) · pl robić duże wrażenie (to exert sweeping influence) · pl wycinać szeroki pas (to clear a broad track) · it aprire un varco (to clear a broad track) · ru прокла́дывать просе́ку (to clear a broad track) · pl wyciąć szeroki pas (to clear a broad track) · it aprirsi un varco (to clear a broad track)