cut a (wide) swath

1. To garner attention. Cindy is such a talented designer that I'm sure her gowns will cut a swath in the fashion world.

2. To cause a lot of damage or suffering in a specific area or population. It seems that the high winds cut a wide swath through our neighborhood last night, blowing down trees and power lines on nearly every street. Severe malnourishment has certainly cut a swath through this part of the globe.

cut a wide swath

and cut a big swath

to seem important; to attract a lot of attention. In social matters, Mrs. Smith cuts a wide swath. Bob cuts a big swath whenever he appears in his military uniform.

cut a wide swath

Draw a lot of attention, make a considerable display, as in Although he was new to the company, he cut a wide swath. This metaphoric use of making a big sweep of the scythe in cutting grass survives despite the mechanization of farming and the declining use of the noun swath. [Mid-1800s]

cut a wide swath

To make a big display; draw much attention.

cut a (wide) swath, to

To make a showy display, to attract attention. The term originated in America and comes from mowing, a “swath” being the amount cut by one big sweep of the scythe. It was transferred to human showoffs by the mid-nineteenth century. “How he was a strutting up the sidewalk—didn’t he cut a swath!” wrote Ann S. Stephens in High Life in New York (1843). It is heard less often today, but has not quite died out.