1
as in to tidy (up)
to make a place neat and orderly by removing extraneous stuff
you're expected to clean up after you use the workroom
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to censor
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 to eradicate
to destroy all traces of
hurriedly cleaned up the mess that they had created in the kitchen
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in killing
an exceptionally large return
The couple made a cleanup when they flipped the house.
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of clean (up)
Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 May 2026
When more than 250 people came to the new church for the Earth Week cleanup, the multipurpose room was where the volunteers came to get their assignments and T-shirts.
—Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2026
Riley McAndrew, hitting cleanup for the first time this season, then followed with a game-winning two-run home run.
—Dan Albano, Oc Register, 7 May 2026
The cost estimate for cleanup of the underwater waste, known as the northern impoundment of the San Jacinto waste pits, has now climbed to a quarter of a billion dollars.
—Rebekah F. Ward, Houston Chronicle, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for clean (up)
Noun
The outlet noted that self-service soda stations have long been associated with spills, sticky floors and extra cleanup for employees.
—Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 May 2026
When more than 250 people came to the new church for the Earth Week cleanup, the multipurpose room was where the volunteers came to get their assignments and T-shirts.
—Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2026
Riley McAndrew, hitting cleanup for the first time this season, then followed with a game-winning two-run home run.
—Dan Albano, Oc Register, 7 May 2026
The cost estimate for cleanup of the underwater waste, known as the northern impoundment of the San Jacinto waste pits, has now climbed to a quarter of a billion dollars.
—Rebekah F. Ward, Houston Chronicle, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for clean (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clean (up)
Verb
-
Images of the enclosure are tightly censored and obscured on digital mapping platforms.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
15 May 2026
-
Shame on any educational institution that censors speech condemning it.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
What’s worse, these wood-destroying insects can be hard to spot and are famously challenging to eradicate.—
Dan Simms,
USA Today,
12 May 2026
-
Teammates don’t want Rushing to eradicate his competitiveness.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
8 May 2026
Noun
-
Betty never denied the killing, but said she had been driven over the edge by years of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of Dan.—
Christine Pelisek,
PEOPLE,
11 May 2026
-
Italy blamed Egypt for Regeni’s killing.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
11 May 2026
Verb
-
Heat can shrink fabrics, fade colors and weaken elastic fibers, which shortens the life of garments that would otherwise hold up for years.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Miami Herald,
12 May 2026
-
The inside is exceptionally soft, while the outside has the crispy texture that comes from shortening in a biscuit—that's a good thing.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
After Orlando squandered a chance on the counterattack, Philadelphia capitalized in transition to erase the remaining deficit.—
Kyle Foley,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 May 2026
-
Lehmann considers the contested history of Anne Boleyn, the outlandish accusations against her, and the ways in which her image has been erased and changed over time.—
Fiction Non Fiction,
Literary Hub,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
Their financial profits are dependent upon ceaseless, never-ending armed conflicts and wars.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 May 2026
-
That would allow the company to put those savings into lower fares, according to company officials, or into profits and bonus checks, as critics contend.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.—
Andrea Flores,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026
-
Because errors constantly occurred and changes were frequently made to the code, Hamilton sometimes edited the printout by hand by sealing excess holes with clear tape or piercing missing ones in the paper tape with a sharp pencil.—
Manon Bischoff,
Scientific American,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
Let’s go down memory lane and recall that the 13th Amendment is abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude.—
Ann Marie Luft,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 May 2026
-
The Deep is just going through it in this episode, starting with the news that Homelander is abolishing the Seven.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
13 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clean (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clean%20%28up%29. Accessed 17 May. 2026.
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