clean (out)

verb

Definition of clean (out)next
as in to defraud

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for clean (out)
  1. defraud
  2. shortchange
Verb
  • The small group documented Holmes in the month leading up to her 11-year prison sentence for wire fraud and defrauding investors in her tech start-up Theranos.
    — Jackson Murphy, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Daejon Love, the Sacramento County man accused of posing as a San Francisco 49ers player and wealthy real estate investor to defraud victims, has been formally indicted on a federal wire fraud conspiracy charge, officials said Wednesday.
    — Richard Ramos, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of defraud
Verb
  • What’s worse is the scene that follows, revealing the clean-up of multiple bodies and an elaborate rewriting of the narrative that strains credulity to put it mildly, not to mention shortchanging the Mexican characters.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Skydance co-CEOs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz sought to dial down Hollywood jitters that the company’s massive and expensive-to-service debt load approaching $80 billion will force them to shortchange production.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of shortchange
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

clean (off)
clean (out)
cleans
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Clean (out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clean%20%28out%29. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of zenith

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All