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  What it means

  Literally “to sweep away from in front of one’s nose,” this idiom means to snatch something from right under someone’s nose — to take something just before someone else could get it. It conveys the frustration of losing an opportunity or object to a quicker rival.

  Vocabulary

  • sprzątnąć — to snatch away, to clear away (perfective)
  • sprzed — from in front of (compound preposition: 'z' + 'przed')
  • nosa — of the nose (genitive of 'nos')

  Grammar note

  The compound preposition 'sprzed' (from in front of) always takes the genitive case, hence 'nosa' rather than 'nos'.

  Intermediate

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