new broom

A new manager (of a company or organization) who has been hired specifically to make changes and improvements. After two years of falling profits, a new broom was hired to make budget cuts and improve the corporate culture.

See also: broom, new

a new broom

You can call someone a new broom when they have just started a new job in a senior position and are expected to make a lot of changes. We had a new, exceptionally young headmaster and he was a very active new broom. We need a new broom for the project to have credibility Note: You can use new-broom before a noun. If everyone is in the habit of arriving ten minutes late, a new-broom manager will have a struggle to change the habit. Note: You can also use the proverb a new broom sweeps clean. A new broom doesn't always sweep clean, it just brushes some of the worst dirt under the carpet for a while. Compare with make a clean sweep.

See also: broom, new

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

a new broom

a newly appointed person who is likely to make far-reaching changes.

This phrase comes from the proverb a new broom sweeps clean .

See also: broom, new

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

a new ˈbroom (sweeps clean)

(British English, saying) a person who has just started to work for an organization, a department, etc., especially in a senior job, and who is likely to make a lot of changes: The new managing director is clearly a new broom. He’s already got rid of ten members of staff and now he’s looking at our working methods.

See also: broom, new

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

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References in periodicals archive

A LOCAL hero who sweeps the streets of Marsden out of nothing but love has had his wish for a new broom answered!

Village hero Bill's got new brooms; SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN PROMPTS GENEROUS DONATION OF KIT

He appears to be the new broom which sweeps clean, making "France great again".

Paved with good intentions

Certainly, City needed a new broom to conquer Europe, but Guardiola (above) has used a flamethrower rather than a brush at times.

Hot as Hell in Pep's pantry

England's new broom Eddie Jones has rarely been short of a soundbite during a long and successful coaching career, but his mischievous claim that Scotland will be favourites for Saturday's Calcutta Cup opener takes some beating.

Tedious Six Nations mind games as coaches battle for underdog status; Are sportsmen really so fragile that they can't accept 'favourite' status? You'd think so, judging by the tedious ramblings of their coaches

AS well as sweeping a new broom through the playing staff at Coventry City, Tony Mowbray is determined to give the club's training ground a facelift.

Mogga tells City to look the part!

We all have a number of connotations or images we associate with a 'new broom. Is it to be used to sweep out the old, replacing all with the new, irrespective of the worth of the old?

A new broom?

It is available via four Silencure formulations: original, low-VOC, DOT and SRT (Solvent Replacement Technology), a patented water-based agent that can be applied to new broom finished, precast, or hand- or machine-troweled surfaces.

Integrated curing, sealing agent

With a new broom at the head of the Judicial Council, we can only hope that things will change and the Labour Law, which states that disputes have to be closed within 45 days, will be enforced.

New broom needed

Craig Burley: Gordon Strachan may be a new broom but this was same old rubbi