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rastrellare

to rake, to comb (an area)

verb rahs-trel-LAH-reh Rare

Also means

to round up, to sweep

Usage Note

Rastrellare literally means to rake (as in gardening) but figuratively — and very commonly in news Italian — means to sweep or comb an area in a police or military operation (rastrellare la zona — to sweep the area). The noun rastrellamento refers to such a search operation or roundup. It takes avere as its auxiliary.

Examples

"La polizia ha rastrellato l'intera zona."

Natural Translation

The police combed the entire area.

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