French edit

Etymology edit

From balai +‎ -er.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ba.lɛ.je/, /ba.le.je/
  • (file)

Verb edit

balayer

  1. to sweep
  2. to sweep aside, brush aside
  3. (of a long skirt) to drag on the floor
  4. (military) to rake (sweep with gunfire)
  5. (politics) to make a clean sweep

Conjugation edit

This is a regular -er verb as far as pronunciation is concerned, but as with other verbs in -ayer (such as payer and essayer, the <y> of its stem may optionally be written as <i> when it precedes a silent <e> (compare verbs in -eyer, which never have this spelling change, and verbs in -oyer and -uyer, which always have it; verbs in -ayer belong to either group, according to the writer's preference).

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Further reading edit