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)
Sacbee.com, 9 Jan. 2026
But for people who skip the barber, hate appointments or just want a quick cleanup at home, the idea makes sense.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 9 Jan. 2026
Dabney helped organize community cleanup days starting in 2017, during which people picked up trash in yards and alongside roads.
—Katheryn Houghton, NPR, 8 Jan. 2026
Any future use would require extensive environmental cleanup.
—Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 8 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for clean (up)
Noun
Duties include analyzing scientific data to understand risks to people and the environment; helping decide the best cleanup approach and making sure project costs are accurate and paid.
—Sacbee.com, 9 Jan. 2026
But for people who skip the barber, hate appointments or just want a quick cleanup at home, the idea makes sense.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 9 Jan. 2026
Dabney helped organize community cleanup days starting in 2017, during which people picked up trash in yards and alongside roads.
—Katheryn Houghton, NPR, 8 Jan. 2026
Any future use would require extensive environmental cleanup.
—Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 8 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for clean (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clean (up)
Verb
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Chinese social media users criticized two key government policies, rare signs of public dissent in the country where the internet is heavily censored.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
25 Dec. 2025
-
The Plough and the Stars was, in the end, never censored by the government.—
Talya Zax,
The Atlantic,
23 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Spider mites create webs and can be eradicated with miticide spray.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Just last week, a professor who taught at Harvard for 40 years slammed the school for its ideological homogeneity after finishing his last semester, saying that graduate programs were denying White male applicants on racial grounds and that Western civilization courses were being eradicated.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Several hundred people gathered in downtown Dallas on Thursday evening to protest the killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent the day before.—
Emily Holshouser,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
9 Jan. 2026
-
The action was in response to the killing of Renee Nicole Good, 37, who was shot while in her vehicle by an ICE agent conducting arrests in a residential area of Minneapolis.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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That allowed the Panthers to shorten the game and possess the ball for 10 minutes and 32 seconds longer than the Rams, whose defenders this week admitted to being knocked off the line of scrimmage this week by the Carolina run blockers.—
Adam Grosbard,
Oc Register,
9 Jan. 2026
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More San Francisco businesses may have their operating hours shortened as two supervisors seek to expand the city's neighborhood store curfew.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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After an incredible 20 minutes last weekend that saw the Broncos erase a 24-point deficit at San Diego State to tie the game 79-79 in the final seconds, Andrews found the ball in his hands on the final possession of the game.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
9 Jan. 2026
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These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Maybe a genuine boom can keep goosing profit forecasts.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
10 Jan. 2026
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All profits from the sale of Michigan Lottery tickets go to the state’s School Aid Fund.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
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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,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Condensed and edited by Rebecca Kilroy.—
Fiction Non Fiction,
Literary Hub,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The FairTax Act of 2025 was the latest bid to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and replace income tax and other levies with a national sales tax.—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
6 Jan. 2026
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During his campaign, Mamdani pledged to keep the NYPD’s headcount flat, abolish the department’s controversial Strategic Response Group and get rid of its gang database — all proposals opposed by Tisch, who supports hiring more cops.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
6 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clean (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clean%20%28up%29. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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