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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Faculty and civil rights groups warn censoring such topics is a violation of academic freedom.—
Lily Kepner,
Austin American Statesman,
16 Feb. 2026 -
His remarks appeared to be aimed in part at providing a message of unity after Vance from the same stage last year launched a blistering attack on European leaders, accusing them of censoring free speech, failing to control immigration and not doing enough to protect the region militarily.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Yet Aii has struggled to achieve more than a handful of percentage points of its goal of eradicating 100 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by the decade’s end.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Sourcing Journal,
19 Feb. 2026
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The very first big project the foundation took on was eradicating hookworm in the American South.—
Christopher DiLella,
CNBC,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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How about shortening the season?—
Nick Canepa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 Feb. 2026
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There are still widespread suspicions that Netflix would honor the film’s slate existing theatrical commitments — before ultimately shortening the windows to the point where the theater business is threatened.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In other markets, gold’s price slumped briefly after the ruling before erasing its loss.—
Stan Choe,
Fortune,
20 Feb. 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,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Age is also key here — the Bulls wouldn’t help themselves by picking up a big who’s already in his late 20s, aging him out of the current plan focused around 21-year-old Matas Buzelis.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Feb. 2026
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Shoppers are picking up essentials early, aiming to avoid last-minute trips if roads become unsafe.—
Nicole Nielsen,
CBS News,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Outdoor Voices, once the toast of the category, faded into restructuring, wiping out its entire social media presence.—
Alexander Puutio,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
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At least 61,000 people living in the Gaza Strip have died in Israel’s subsequent military campaign aimed at wiping out Hamas and recovering the hostages.—
Nancy Tartaglione,
Deadline,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Success will be measured by progress toward abolishing property taxes, restoring public trust, improving infrastructure reliability, reducing corruption, and overall approval from the people of Texas.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
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Authoritarian states have learned to insulate themselves from diaspora pressure while simultaneously using emigration as a safety valve, turning potential dissidents into remittance-senders – as Cuba did by abolishing exit visas in 2013.—
Michael Paarlberg,
The Conversation,
12 Feb. 2026
Verb
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And Hanceville’s fate is as murky as the fog that pours in at night, blotting out buildings and blackening the road ahead.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
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But two shootings of US citizens and scenes of unrest in Minnesota are blotting out any hope of that.—
Shelby Talcott,
semafor.com,
27 Jan. 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 23 Feb. 2026.
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