Drooggeveegd

Drooggeveegd is a Dutch idiom used to describe a complete, one-sided victory or defeat, comparable to the English phrase a clean sweep or to wipe the floor with someone. The expression combines droog (dry) and geveegd (swept), conveying the idea of an opponent being swept away with little resistance.

Usage and nuance: It is most common in sports journalism and everyday speech, but can also appear in politics or games to characterize a lopsided result. The term is descriptive and neutral in form, though it often carries a sense of emphatic dominance for the winner and thorough defeat for the loser. It tends to be informal and vivid rather than formal, and is typically used when the margin of victory or loss is clearly overwhelming.

Variants and forms: The phrase can appear as drooggeveegd (adjective) or in passive constructions such as de ploeg werd drooggeveegd (the team was wiped out). A related noun form is een drooggeveegde nederlaag (a completely wiped-out defeat).

Origin and usage context: The exact origin is not precisely documented; it belongs to a family of Dutch sports metaphors that use everyday imagery to describe competition. It is mainly found in informal to semi-formal registers, including media reporting and public discourse, where a strong, evocative description of a result is appropriate.

See also: clean sweep.