cleanup

1 of 3

noun

clean·​up ˈklēn-ˌəp 

1

: an act or instance of cleaning

The children helped with the cleanup.

2

: an exceptionally large profit

made a cleanup [=killing] when he sold his stocks

cleanup

2 of 3

adjective

: being in the fourth position in the batting order of a baseball team

a cleanup hitter

cleanup adverb

clean up

3 of 3

verb

cleaned up; cleaning up; cleans up

intransitive verb

1

: to make a spectacular profit in a business enterprise or a killing in speculation or gambling

2

: to become free of drug or alcohol addiction

I always cleaned up for tours. … By the end of the tour, I'm perfectly clean and should have stayed sober.

—Keith Richards

Examples of cleanup in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Instead, the group did a beach cleanup to pick up small pieces of trash and Styrofoam washed up by the waves. —Laylan Connelly, Oc Register, 11 June 2026

Still, the effort — weighed down by Sheets going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts as the cleanup hitter — ended with the Padres still looking for their first back-to-back wins since May 22-23. —Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 June 2026

Adjective

Volunteers from the Salvation Army of Arkansas, the American Red Cross, and Baptist Disaster Relief arrived in town throughout the day on Friday to assist with cleanup efforts and support. —Josh Kelly, Oklahoman, 25 Apr. 2026

Johnston said some of the risks could’ve been avoided if the state committed to proper safeguards, such as post-cleanup sampling, sooner. —Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026

Verb

The new budget pushes those goals to 2040 and 2050, giving us more time to reduce emissions in a more affordable way for ratepayers and still clean up our environment. —Robert Duffy, New York Daily News, 15 June 2026

The New York Giants quarterback, who is a FOX Sports soccer correspondent for the World Cup, was also seen cleaning up trash around the stadium. —Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 15 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

see clean entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1872, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1912, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1920, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cleanup

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup
• pickup

Kids Definition

cleanup

noun

clean·​up

ˈklē-ˌnəp

: an act or instance of cleaning

helped with the cleanup after the meal