1
as in to tidy (up)
to make a place neat and orderly by removing extraneous stuff
you're expected to clean up after you use the workroom
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to censor
to remove objectionable parts from
cleaned up the rock star's interview before publishing it in the newspaper
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to eradicate
to destroy all traces of
hurriedly cleaned up the mess that they had created in the kitchen
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in killing
an exceptionally large return
The couple made a cleanup when they flipped the house.
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Recent Examples of clean (up)
City News Service, Daily News, 27 Mar. 2026
Padres cleanup man Jackson Merrill, 23, won’t soon forget the education Skubal dealt him.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Mar. 2026
Chris Welch, Vantage’s director for pre-construction in North America, said the project would have dedicated crews contracted for the cleanup.
—Claudia Levens, jsonline.com, 26 Mar. 2026
This concept truck from Jeep was designed with trail maintenance, cartography and cleanup in mind.
—Liam Rappleye, Freep.com, 26 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for clean (up)
Noun
The cleanup operation in Canoga Park occurred about two days after city personnel cleared an encampment in a storm drain in South Los Angeles near the Harbor (110) Freeway.
—City News Service, Daily News, 27 Mar. 2026
Padres cleanup man Jackson Merrill, 23, won’t soon forget the education Skubal dealt him.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Mar. 2026
Chris Welch, Vantage’s director for pre-construction in North America, said the project would have dedicated crews contracted for the cleanup.
—Claudia Levens, jsonline.com, 26 Mar. 2026
This concept truck from Jeep was designed with trail maintenance, cartography and cleanup in mind.
—Liam Rappleye, Freep.com, 26 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for clean (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clean (up)
Verb
-
Our children’s academic curricula will be actually censored.—
Aidin Vaziri,
San Francisco Chronicle,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Our children’s academic curricula will actually be censored.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In Namibia, local authorities were producing millions of tons of wood chips while eradicating an invasive bush.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Instead of eradicating catcher framing like full abdication to the robots would have, the challenge system adds new layers to the charade of trying to sell strikes.—
Hannah Keyser,
CNN Money,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
On Monday, the Contra Costa DA's Office said in a press release that Howard Wang now faces an additional murder charge for the June 2024 killing of 41-year-old Chengli Li in Los Angeles County.—
Carlos E. Castañeda,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Three unsolved homicides — the April, 3, 2022 killings of 22-year-old Brandon Alexander Cheese and 20-year-old Kieran Carlson in San Francisco — as well as the June 2022 killing of Leandre Hubbard in North Richmond, were attributed to this feud.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The Temperature Drop That Triggers Sleep A 2019 meta-analysis of 13 trials found roughly 10 minutes in warm water one to two hours before bed shortened time to fall asleep by about nine minutes.—
Allison Palmer,
Charlotte Observer,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Climate change complicates forecasting All this is playing out against the backdrop of climate change, which is shortening winters and turning up the heat.—
Shi En Kim,
AZCentral.com,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The Indians erased an early 3-0 deficit with 3 runs in the second and 4 in the fourth.—
Darren Lauber,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Then there is that silence motivated by the desire to protect one’s self through trying to erase the thing never discussed.—
Cyraina Johnson-Roullier,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
To that end, 100 percent of the inn’s profits are funneled to Shorefast for reinvestment in community work.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Jimenez, who works as a custodian, said that shopping at the non profit's market saves her family a lot of money.—
Michele Gile,
CBS News,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The creation of this content included the use of AI based on templates created, reviewed and edited by journalists in the newsroom.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
1 Apr. 2026
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Keep it light and clever, yet commit to a piece long enough to actually wrap it, whether that means editing your podcast or rehearsing your lines once.—
Tarot.com,
Sun Sentinel,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
In the four and a half decades since France abolished the death penalty, the guillotine itself has rarely been seen.—
Lauren Collins,
New Yorker,
1 Apr. 2026
-
If holistic admissions were abolished (and admissions were based solely on grades, curricular rigor and test scores), the percentage of students with parents in the top 1% of income would drop by more than a third.—
David Blobaum,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clean (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clean%20%28up%29. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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