Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - swathe

~1 also swath ~ n 1 a long band of cloth  (swathes of cotton) 2 a line or area of grass or crops that has been cut by a machine or a cutting tool 3 any large area of land that is different from the land on either side of it  (Acid rain is now affecting great swathes of Western Europe.) 4 cut a swath through if a fire, severe storm etc cuts a swath through a place, it destroys almost everything around it ~2 v T usually passive literary be swathed in sth to be wrapped or covered in something, especially cloth  (women swathed in expensive furs)