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
: being in the fourth position in the batting order of a baseball team
a cleanup hitter
cleanup
adverb
cleaned up; cleaning up; cleans up
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
Keith RichardsExamples of cleanup in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Ray Stern, AZCentral.com, 3 Oct. 2025
Since 1992, its focus has shifted to environmental cleanup, nuclear materials management, and serving as a hub for research and development, hosting the Savannah River National Laboratory.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2025
Maya Wilkins, Chicago Tribune, 26 Aug. 2025
Officials declined to specify how frequently troops have been tasked with cleanup duties, but emphasized the effort supports community improvement alongside public safety operations.
—Amanda Castro
hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Oct. 2025
Since then, a smaller number of workers have chipped away at decommissioning the plant — a decades-long process of cleaning up nuclear waste.
—Miranda Dunlap, jsonline.com, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cleanup
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Noun
Since then, thousands of volunteers and paid workers joined in the extensive cleanup work.
—Ray Stern, AZCentral.com, 3 Oct. 2025
Since 1992, its focus has shifted to environmental cleanup, nuclear materials management, and serving as a hub for research and development, hosting the Savannah River National Laboratory.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
The Grand Calumet River and Indiana Harbor Ship Canal — located in East Chicago — were polluted from more than a century of industrial and municipal wastewater discharges, and caused multiple grassroots organizations to advocate for cleanup measures along the river.
—Maya Wilkins, Chicago Tribune, 26 Aug. 2025
Officials declined to specify how frequently troops have been tasked with cleanup duties, but emphasized the effort supports community improvement alongside public safety operations.
—Amanda Castro
hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025
Verb
And really, there’s a lot of things to celebrate, there’ll be a lot of things to clean up.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Oct. 2025
Since then, a smaller number of workers have chipped away at decommissioning the plant — a decades-long process of cleaning up nuclear waste.
—Miranda Dunlap, jsonline.com, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cleanup
Cite this Entry
“Cleanup.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cleanup. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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