Crossword Clue: Tool for sweeping floors
Here's the answer to the Tool for sweeping floors crossword clue, with an explanation and where it has appeared.
Definition & answer: BROOM
The answer to "Tool for sweeping floors" is BROOM. Broom runs 5 letters — 2 vowels and 3 consonants — opening with B and closing on M. In a grid it fills a 5-square slot whose letters are each shared with a crossing word, so the intersections do a lot of the heavy lifting when the clue itself is tough.
Origin & meaning
A broom is a brush on a long handle for sweeping, originally made from the twigs of the broom shrub that gave it its name. A 'clean sweep' means a total victory, and witches are traditionally pictured riding one.
Common usage
You'll see BROOM in grids regularly — its 5-letter, 2 vowels shape is exactly what setters need to bridge trickier entries. When one intersecting letter is already in place, especially the B or M, BROOM tends to fall fast.
Crossword trivia
Short answers like BROOM are the connective tissue of a crossword. You'll meet BROOM again and again, and recognizing it instantly is one of the quiet skills that separates fast solvers from slow ones.
Stuck on this clue?
The fastest way past a stubborn clue like this one is the grid itself: pencil in the easy crossing answers first, and BROOM will often be the only word that fits the letters you already have.
This clue in different puzzles
Setters vary how they clue BROOM — sometimes with a straight dictionary definition, sometimes with wordplay, a pun, or a fill-in-the-blank — but the answer itself stays the same. Learning to spot the answer behind the disguise is a core crossword skill.
Example sentences
- "I had the crossing letters, so writing BROOM into the grid took no time at all."
- "Broom is the kind of answer that clicks the moment you spot one letter."
- "Seeing 'Tool for sweeping floors' in the clue list, an experienced solver pencils in BROOM almost immediately."