1
as in cleans house
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 censors
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 erases
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 cleans (up)
Verb
-
In 2019, the state passed a law that censors me from saying certain things to my clients.—
Megan Schrader,
Denver Post,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The other serves as the president and CEO of Undue Medical Debt, the only nonprofit that acquires and erases medical debt for those most burdened.—
Allison Sesso,
STAT,
20 Feb. 2026
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Food and drink The casual, open-plan kitchen erases the divide between Sussurro’s chefs and guests, inviting collaboration and conversation sparked by the display of fresh produce harvested straight from the on-site garden or sourced from organic farmers’ markets.—
Megan Spurrell,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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One bill requires legislative approval for major agency rules and shortens gubernatorial appointee terms to four years.—
Marissa Payne,
Des Moines Register,
17 Feb. 2026
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This kind of careful pruning is superior to topping, which results in weak and spindly growth and shortens a tree's lifespan.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
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These four novels create a convincing, wrenching, kaleidoscopic picture of the range and repetitions of the most fatal kind of love; the sort of love that allows nothing else to grow around it, that eradicates all dignity; a love which, in order to be completed, must be told.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
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The path to health involves aggressive treatment that eradicates the disease.—
Pedro A. Rojas Arroyo,
Boston Herald,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Instead, this measure abolishes them.—
Jon Coupal,
Oc Register,
31 Aug. 2025
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The Iranian parliament has just approved a law that abolishes prison sentences for those who had to leave Iran illegally.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
11 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Hinton, a Nobel Prize-winning computer scientist and a former Google executive, has warned in the past that there is a 10% to 20% chance that AI wipes out humans.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
13 Aug. 2025
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That timeline could shrink if a massive fraud wipes out public confidence in the Internet.—
Dr. Diane Hamilton,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Politicizing the panel destroys that function.—
Berkeley Lovelace Jr,
NBC news,
27 Feb. 2026
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In 2024, a team identified the molecular mechanisms behind the microbe that destroys bananas.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
19 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Cleans (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cleans%20%28up%29. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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