cleaning (up)

verb

present participle of clean (up)
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)
  1. picking up
  2. censoring
  3. eradicating
  4. shortening
  5. erasing
  6. wiping out
  7. abolishing
  8. blotting out
Verb
  • Henderson sent several texts to a partner at DTLA about picking up checks for his work in Val Verde, according to messages reviewed by The Times.
    — Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2026
  • Later in the second half, Olise teed up Ousmane Dembele with prodded outside-of-the-boot passes after picking up loose balls in front of the defence.
    — Thom Harris, New York Times, 4 July 2026
Definition of picking up
Verb
  • Aguirre’s interviews are carefully edited with bleeps, censoring the ‘cabr—s’, the ‘hijos de p—s’ and ‘carambas’.
    — Colin Millar, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Vance asserted that the 2020 election was rigged due to tech companies censoring information.
    — Britta Miller, The Washington Examiner, 27 June 2026
Definition of censoring
Verb
  • Antibacterial wipes can also be beneficial for eradicating dirt and germs from both handles and zippers.
    — Louise Parks, Martha Stewart, 27 July 2026
  • Four Months Before the Wedding If your primary concern is eradicating sun spots or hyperpigmentation before your wedding—whether that be on your face or body—speak with your dermatologist about the possibility of laser treatments.
    — Rio Viera-Newton, Vogue, 23 July 2026
Definition of eradicating
Verb
  • In other words, shortening the degree to save money risks shortening exactly the capability that will matter most in the job market that graduates are about to enter.
    — Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
  • This allows new chip layouts to be fabricated immediately after design completion, eliminating the need to manufacture masks for every design iteration and significantly shortening research and development cycles.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 25 July 2026
Definition of shortening
Verb
  • The record-setting Warriors were only a few months removed from erasing a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate Durant’s Thunder in the Western Conference finals.
    — Devon Henderson, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2026
  • On December 8, 2025, Instagram permanently terminated the account @nipeople, a project by artist, journalist, and activist Emma Shapiro, instantly erasing years of work and sparking a legal debate over digital freedom.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 31 July 2026
Definition of erasing
Verb
  • Shares slumped 16% for a third straight session of losses, wiping out $400 billion in market cap on Monday alone.
    — Gail Krishnan, CNBC, 23 June 2026
  • The prospect of even a mini-Dust Bowl is alarming as the original disaster during the Great Depression sent dust clouds across rural America, wiping out entire communities and triggering mass migration to other parts of the country.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 21 June 2026
Definition of wiping out
Verb
  • El-Sayed describes himself as a capitalist and is not endorsed by the Democratic Socialists, but shares a similar policy platform to many of their candidates, such as abolishing ICE.
    — Sam Gringlas, NPR, 1 Aug. 2026
  • The video showed Romer confirming what the DSA platform stands for, including abolishing the Senate and replacing the presidency.
    — Britta Miller, The Washington Examiner, 31 July 2026
Definition of abolishing
Verb
  • 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
  • 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
Definition of blotting out
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

cleaning (out)
cleaning (up)
cleaning up one's act
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cleaning (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cleaning%20%28up%29. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

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

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

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
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
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All