CLEANING Synonyms: 62 Similar and Opposite Words

cleaning

verb

present participle of clean

as in scrubbing

to remove the dirt from we cleaned the clothes before donating them to charity

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in removing

to take the internal organs out of cleaned the rabbit before cooking it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of cleaning Best Last-Chance Amazon Home Labor Day Sales Give your home a refresh with last-minute deals on fresh cozy bedding, cleaning gadgets, and décor. — Isabel Garcia, PEOPLE, 6 Sep. 2026 Dip your microfiber cloth into the mixture and apply it to the zellige tiles, cleaning in gentle circles. — Alexandra Kelly, Martha Stewart, 5 Sep. 2026 Abby was cleaning the upstairs guest room when she was struck as many as 19 times with a hatchet. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Sep. 2026 Others were quiet about the fact that their fathers worked in factories and their mothers as cleaning women. — Gloria Steinem, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2026 Blood Similar to cleaning urine stains, if the blood on your mattress is fresh, then start the process by soaking up excess liquid with a paper towel before cleaning the area. — Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 30 Aug. 2026 Summary An 11-year-old Ontario entrepreneur, Ashton Meyer, transformed his $10 bin cleaning side hustle into a viral success, gaining over 110,000 Instagram followers. — Sarah Hernholm, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026 When cleaning your microwave, don’t forget to remove the glass turntable and clean it thoroughly as well. — Kate Van Pelt, The Spruce, 29 Aug. 2026 Sanitation workers were cleaning the area, cutting down trees, and erecting a new fence and lock to keep out trespassers. — Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cleaning

Verb

Soak pans before cleaning them, and turn off the faucet when scrubbing.

— Simmone Shah, Time, 26 Aug. 2026
Wipe the solution off with water and a microfiber cloth, scrubbing at the grimy parts.

— Abby Monteil, The Spruce, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of scrubbing

Verb

Water filtration is an easy option for backpackers but is less effective at removing viruses.

— Elaine Reno, The Conversation, 8 Sep. 2026
The real frontier is removing the human latency between seeing a problem and solving it, and that’s exactly what agentic AI can help make possible.

— Devendra Rajput, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of removing

Verb

The bestselling cream-like balm melts into a clear, oil-like cleanser when warmed between dry palms, dissolving makeup, sunscreen, and grime before emulsifying with water and rinsing clean.

— Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 6 Sep. 2026
Torres likes to clean zellige tiles in 2-foot sections at a time, rinsing the microfiber cloth in clean water before moving on to the next section.

— Alexandra Kelly, Martha Stewart, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of rinsing

Verb

The Joico HydraSplash Hydrating Shampoo swaps the usual suspects for keratin (a protective protein) and natural hydrators like coconut water and sea kelp to replenish dry hair while thoroughly cleansing it.

— Madison San Miguel, Allure, 5 Sep. 2026
It’s also packed with a slew of cleansing agents that are known for effectively sloughing away gunk while being gentle enough not to damage the skin barrier.

— Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of cleansing

Verb

Fibr produced the dataset by extracting composition information published on retailers’ product pages.

— Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 8 Sep. 2026
That company has a method for extracting lithium from salt water brine, skipping a common refining process typically needed to get the material from hard rock.

— Robert Ferris, CNBC, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of extracting

Verb

Now, to the handwashing shortcomings, such as a cashier handling customer’s payment, then preparing drinks and serving plates of food to customers without washing hands (cash and payment cards tend to be germ motherships).

— David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2026
In a single-person household, washing your bath mat every one to two weeks is typically sufficient.

— Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of washing

Verb

On a September 2026 episode of Not Just Football With Cam Heyward, Rodgers offered a small nugget about how the wedding went down before cutting himself off.

— Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2026
The victim told police a handful of men had gotten together drinking and smoking while a tree cutting crew was in the neighborhood after recent storms, records state.

— Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026