cut a wide swath

present singular third person cuts a wide swath · participle present cutting a wide swath · alternative cut a wide swathe

1. USTo clear a broad track through a grassland, woodland, geographical region, or other area, either by natural means or by human action.

   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 more examples

   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

   Synonyms: blaze a trail, cut a swath

2. USfigurativelyidiomaticTo behave in an expansive, flagrantly showy, or pushy manner, especially in public venues; to exert sweeping influence.

   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

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   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)

   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

   Synonyms: show off, swagger, throw one's weight around, aura farm, boulevardier, cut it fat, cut round, exhibitionize