clean

adjective

\ ˈklēn

Definition of clean

(Entry 1 of 4)

1a : free from dirt or pollution changed to clean clothes clean solar energy

b : free from contamination or disease a clean wound

c : free or relatively free from radioactivity a clean atomic explosion

2a : unadulterated, pure the clean thrill of one's first flight

b of a precious stone : having no interior flaws visible

c : free from growth that hinders tillage clean farmland

3a : free from moral corruption or sinister connections of any kind a candidate with a clean record also : free from violations a clean driving record

b : free from offensive treatment of sexual subjects and from the use of obscenity a clean joke

c : observing the rules : fair a clean fight

4 : ceremonially or spiritually pure and all who are clean may eat flesh — Leviticus 7:19 (Revised Standard Version)

5a : thorough, complete a clean break with the past

b : deftly executed : skillful clean ballet technique The gymnast made a clean landing.

c : hit beyond the reach of an opponent a clean single to center

6a : relatively free from error or blemish : clear specifically : legible clean copy

b : unencumbered clean bill of sale

7a : characterized by clarity and precision : trim a clean prose style architecture with clean almost austere lines

b : even, smooth a clean edge a sharp blow causing a clean break

c : free from external hindrances to smooth flow (as of water or air) a clean airplane a ship with a clean bottom

8a : empty the ship returned with a clean hold

b : free from drug addiction has been clean for six months

c slang : having no contraband (such as weapons or drugs) in one's possession All visitors to the prison are searched to make sure they're clean.

d of a computer : not having anything added by a user installed the software on a clean computer

9 : habitually neat

clean

adverb

Definition of clean (Entry 2 of 4)

1a : so as to clean a new broom sweeps clean

b : in a clean manner play the game clean

2 : all the way : completely the bullet went clean through his arm

clean

verb

cleaned; cleaning; cleans

Definition of clean (Entry 3 of 4)

transitive verb

1a : to make clean: such as

(1) : to rid of dirt, impurities, or extraneous matter clean a wound

(2) : to rid of corruption vowing to clean up city hall

b : remove, eradicate —usually used with up or off clean up that mess

2a : strip, empty a tree cleaned of fruit

b : to remove the entrails from clean fish

c : to deprive of money or possessions —often used with out they cleaned him out completely

intransitive verb

: to undergo or perform a process of cleaning clean up before dinner

clean house

1 : to clean a house and its furniture

2 : to make sweeping reforms or changes (as of personnel)

clean one's clock

: to beat one badly in a fight or competition

clean up one's act

: to behave in a more acceptable manner

clean

noun

Definition of clean (Entry 4 of 4)

: an act of cleaning dirt especially from the surface of something She gave the tub a good clean.

Other Words from clean Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about clean

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Other Words from clean

Adjective

cleanness \ ˈklēn-nəs

\ noun

Verb

cleanability \ ˌklē-nə-ˈbi-lə-tē

\ noun

cleanable \ ˈklē-nə-bəl

\ adjective

Examples of clean in a Sentence

Adjective

This table isn't clean. There's a sticky spot where something spilled. He keeps a very clean house. The janitor does a good job of keeping the office clean. I wiped the baby's face clean. He's a clean young man. Cats are very clean animals. Solar power provides clean energy.

Adverb

Somehow, the top of the machine came clean off. The nail went clean through the wall. The fish were jumping clean out of the water.

Verb

The carpet needs to be cleaned. They divide household duties so that she cleans and her husband cooks. They cleaned the fish and cooked them on the campfire. skin and clean a rabbit

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Sharon Pollak, a social worker living in Center City who’s employed the same house cleaner for more than a decade, was alerted to Alia by her daughter and then explained the app to her cleaner. — Juliana Feliciano Reyes, The Seattle Times, "A new app gives paid time off to the ‘original gig workers’," 15 Jan. 2019 Boohoo ran fewer blanket promotions and resorted instead to tactical discounts to drive demand in categories that hadn’t sold as well given the weather, resulting in a clean stock position, Jefferies says. — WSJ, "European Equities Market Talk Roundup," 15 Jan. 2019 Making clean audio depends a lot of getting noise-free power, so EVGA uses AudioNote capacitors and resistors in the card as well as a Texas Instrument power-regulation circuit. — Gordon Mah Ung, PCWorld, "EVGA gets into sound cards with Nu Audio, a high-end board that delivers 'lifelike' gaming," 8 Jan. 2019 In 2018, clean energy technologies also got bigger, better, and cheaper. — Umair Irfan, Vox, "Climate and energy news in 2018 actually wasn’t all bad," 1 Jan. 2019 Both options deliver an ad-free reading experience, full-text RSS feeds, clean-reading mode, freedom from tracking scripts, and access to our subscriber-only forums. — Eric Bangeman, Ars Technica, "Talk amongst yourselves: 2018’s most-commented stories on Ars," 24 Dec. 2018 For shine-bright-like-a-diamond hair, comb deep conditioner through damp, clean hair and wrap your head with a towel. — Seventeen.com Editors, Seventeen, "50 Life-Changing Prom Beauty Tips You Haven't Heard Before," 19 Dec. 2018 The idea that making everything faster and easier and swifter and cleaner and making sure there’s absolutely nothing in between your impulse and the expression of that impulse, that’s actually a problem. — Eric Johnson, Recode, "Full Q&A: Ezra Klein and Kara Swisher on the future of journalism," 12 Dec. 2018 Transfer to oven and bake until cake is golden and tester inserted in center comes out clean, 30-40 minutes. — Gabriella Gershenson, WSJ, "The Greatest New Year’s Menus on the Planet (at Least We Think So)," 26 Dec. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb

Charlottesville has long outgrown its patrician Jeffersonian roots to become a mecca for artists and musicians, youthful retirees, and clean-cut techies. — James Loeffler, WSJ, "The Struggle for Charlottesville," 10 Aug. 2018 In 2017, BART’s overtime spending systemwide rose by $2.2 million — but the department charged with keeping stations clean managed to cut its overtime by nearly $1 million, records show. — Michael Cabanatuan, San Francisco Chronicle, "BART reining in janitor overtime after public fallout," 30 Apr. 2018 And that required relying on an image of the Kennedys as upstanding, clean-cut, even glamorous public servants. — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, "The Kennedy family built up a public mythology. TV and movies are taking it apart.," 9 Apr. 2018 Finch, who is remarkably clean-cut for an unwashed anarcho-punk, represents freedom, sexuality and a comfortable racial identity. — Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, "Review: Deirdre O’Connell Loses Her Grip on Reality in ‘Terminus’," 20 Feb. 2018 Derrick Cardosi, 25, was clean-cut and wearing a white dress shirt and slacks when he was led into Newton County Superior Judge Daniel J. Molter's courtroom Monday by his attorney, Harry Falk. — Carrie Napoleon, Post-Tribune, "Jury selection begins in Sumava Resorts stabbing deaths trial," 29 Jan. 2018 An unknown person attempted to open the floor clean-out drain in the men's bathroom at Oct. 6 at 11:41 a.m. from Elm Grove Village Park, 13600 Juneau Blvd. — Karen Pilarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Brookfield-Elm Grove Police Report: Woman refuses to leave drive-thru due to lack of napkin," 12 Oct. 2017 The build-up has been light on trash talk, with Parker living up to his image of being clean-cut and courteous. — USA TODAY, "Heavyweight champ Parker hits the road to boost profile," 21 Sep. 2017 Suave, clean-cut, and well-spoken, Macron the candidate seemed like the product of a centrist basement lab. — Sarah Jones, New Republic, "Emmanuel Macron Is No Model For Democrats," 25 Aug. 2017

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

To scrub out deep stains, borrow this clever cutting board-cleaning trick: Cut a lemon in half, dip in salt, and rub on the affected area. — Taysha Murtaugh, Country Living, "Butcher-Block Countertops: Pros, Cons, and Everything Else You Should Know," 15 Jan. 2019 Netflix's Tidying Up with Marie Kondo may have ridiculously banal content—watching people clean out their closets and drawers—but the emotional toll of letting go is a surprisingly moving experience. — Lonnie Firestone, Glamour, "It Took a Fire in My Building to Understand Marie Kondo's Method," 15 Jan. 2019 The Hoover Smart Wash is a convenient full-sized carpet cleaning machine. — Sarah Bogdan, Good Housekeeping, "The Best Carpet Cleaners to Buy in 2019," 15 Jan. 2019 Graduate students, undergraduate student workers, adjunct professors, teaching assistants, clerical staff, cafeteria workers, schoolbus drivers, cleaning staff, and other campus workers are all crucial parts of the education industry. — Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue, "Education Workers on Campuses Around the Country Are Demanding Better Labor Conditions," 10 Jan. 2019 Walmart has signed a deal for aisle-cleaning robots. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Walmart Buys Over 300 Aisle-Cleaning Robots," 6 Dec. 2018 For dryers, that means cleaning out the lint trap on the regular (which also reduces the risk of a fire). — Kaitlin Clark, Curbed, "How long household appliances should last," 1 Nov. 2018 And in October of 2016, a man died from Vibrio after cleaning out crab pots at his beach house in Ocean City, Maryland. — Amanda Macmillan, Health.com, "Vibrio Vulnificus: What to Know About The 'Flesh-Eating Bacteria' That Has a New Jersey Man Fighting For His Life," 10 July 2018 In the spring of '98, when TCU vice chancellor William Koehler led a push for the school to invest heavily in athletics and effectively cleaned out the department, Hesselbrock was one of the few to remain in a high-ranking capacity. — Mac Engel, star-telegram, "Why one of TCU's last ties to the Southwest Conference is planning to leave the school," 20 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

As the holiday season winds down, Christmas clean-up inevitably begins. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "When Should You Take Your Christmas Tree Down? The Answer Will Definitely Surprise You," 24 Dec. 2018 Buy Now: $5.99 for 30 count, target.com Buy Now: $0.75 for 10 count, ulta.com Foreo, LUNA 2 and Mini A facial cleansing brush gives your skin a deeper clean and an anti-aging massage for brighter, firmer skin. — Mara Balagtas, Condé Nast Traveler, "The Best Travel-Size Beauty Products to Pack in Your Carry-On," 10 July 2018 As our water infrastructure system ages, experts say, keeping America's water clean becomes increasingly challenging. — Nadia Kounang, CNN, "The Kentucky county where the water smells like diesel," 30 Mar. 2018 Empty your Pringles can and wipe the inside clean with a damp cloth or paper towel. — Stephanie Shore Fisher, Good Housekeeping, "How to Turn a Pringles Can Into a Christmas Cookie Container," 29 Nov. 2018 The bob was popularized by the French in the 20th century thanks to a desire for simpler shapes, as well as the Parisian production of the Ballets Russes’s Scheherazade, which showcased the clean-cut style paired with flowing Arabian garb. — Calin Van Paris, Vogue, "The History of French Girl Hair: From Marie Antoinette’s Pouf to Brigitte Bardot’s Bedhead," 24 Sep. 2018 The logistics of brushing your teeth while keeping the mirror clean are mind-boggling. — Jessica Bloom, The Cut, "I Think About This a Lot: Kim Kardashian Brushing Her Teeth," 21 May 2018 Caltrans maintenance workers are paid an average of $46,800 annually, and Crouch said their job description includes clearing brush and other duties normally associated with keeping state property clean. — Gary Warth, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Caltrans union files grievance over homeless camp cleanups," 3 May 2018 The problem for Arizona is keeping the pocket clean for Rosen. — The Heat Index, azcentral, "NFL draft grades: Rave reviews for Arizona Cardinals' Josh Rosen pick?," 27 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'clean.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of clean

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

circa 1889, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for clean

Adjective

Middle English clene, going back to Old English clǣne "free from impurities or dirt, unblemished," going back to West Germanic *klainja- (whence also Old Saxon klēni "slender, perceptive," Middle Dutch cleine, clēne "of superior quality, elegant, slender, small," Old High German kleini, chleine "fine, delicate, clever"), of uncertain origin

Note: On the grounds that Low German klīn and Swiss German khlii, with an ablaut grade *klīn-, require a verbal origin, a base *klein-/*klain-/klin- has been suggested, whence Old Norse klína "to smear, butter (bread)," Old High German giklenan "to stroke, smear," from Indo-European *glei̯H- "smear, make stick" (whence, also with a nasal present formation, Old Irish glenaid "(it) adheres, cleaves," Welsh glynu "to stick, adhere"; cf. clay). This derivation would imply for the Germanic adjective an original meaning "smeared on well, carefully applied," hence "well crafted, of superior quality" > "free of impurities, fine, delicate" > "small" (see F. Heidermanns, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektiven, Berlin, 1993). The earlier proposal of a connection with Indo-European *gel- "bright, shining," is improbable, as none of the descendants of Germanic *klainja- have this meaning.