1
as in tidying (up)
to make a place neat and orderly by removing extraneous stuff
you're expected to clean up after you use the workroom
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in censoring
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 eradicating
to destroy all traces of
hurriedly cleaned up the mess that they had created in the kitchen
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cleaning (up)
Verb
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Residents began self-censoring in private chats and deleting posts out of fear of reprisal.—
Mostafa Salem,
CNN Money,
16 Apr. 2026 -
Meta executives emphasized at trial that the company continuously improves safety and addresses compulsive social media use without infringing on free speech or censoring users.—
Morgan Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But roots can be deep and seeds can spread easily, making eradicating invasive plants difficult.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
4 May 2026
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This makes prediction markets the most useful and precise tool for eradicating exposing insider trading that has ever existed—a tool Congress should rely on heavily, not legislate out of existence.—
Nic Puckrin,
Fortune,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In the surgical procedure, a v-shape of the lower lid is removed thereby shortening the area and reducing the defect.—
Dr. John De Jong,
Boston Herald,
10 May 2026
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Part of that vision includes increasing how often NASA launches Artemis' Space Launch System (SLS) rocket — with the goal of shortening the gap between missions from a few years to about 10 months.—
Chelsea Gohd,
Space.com,
8 May 2026
Verb
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Shea Theodore had a goal and an assist and Brayden McNabb scored a short-handed goal as the Golden Knights stormed to a 5-0 lead after two periods, silencing a sellout crowd in Orange County and erasing memories of their rough offensive outing in Game 2.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 May 2026
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Several southern states have begun to capitalize on the Supreme Court ruling, including Tennessee, which approved a new voting map a day before the decision in Virginia, likely erasing the only blue district in the state.—
Connor Greene,
Time,
8 May 2026
Verb
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Hukporti barely had time to settle in before picking up three fouls in just under four minutes.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
7 May 2026
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Widespread rainfall totals of an inch to 2 inches are possible through Friday across Southeast Texas, with isolated areas picking up 3 inches or more.—
Newsroom Meteorologist,
Houston Chronicle,
7 May 2026
Verb
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Although specific town-by-town figures haven’t been released yet, it’s expected that New Britain could get $10 million or more, instantly wiping out more than half of the deficit that educators warned about.—
Don Stacom,
Hartford Courant,
3 May 2026
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Those errors — which had some tickets showing a lower fine than the $344 required by Florida law and others bearing the wrong ticket numbers — resulted in a Miami-Dade judge wiping out 5,400 violations last spring that drivers were fighting in court.—
David Goodhue,
Miami Herald,
1 May 2026
Verb
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Mayor Mamdani’s glib campaign goal of abolishing the fares on buses for everyone makes a lot less sense than cutting bus and subway fares for the New Yorkers who actually need it most.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
8 May 2026
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Trump has proposed eliminating Head Start and abolishing the Department of Education.—
Jemma Stephenson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 May 2026
Verb
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For a few minutes at each end of that window, the moon’s edge will appear to align with that of the sun, blotting out the star’s fierce light and revealing the wispy corona off to one side.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
6 Apr. 2026
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From up in the space shuttle, in 1983, astronaut Sally Ride could see the pollution blotting out her Los Angeles hometown.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Cleaning (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cleaning%20%28up%29. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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