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
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3
as in to eradicate
to destroy all traces of
hurriedly cleaned up the mess that they had created in the kitchen
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as in killing
an exceptionally large return
The couple made a cleanup when they flipped the house.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of clean (up)
Expert Panel®, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
The fund provides low-interest loans with flexible terms to help with the environmental cleanup of vacant and underutilized properties.
—Celia Fernandez,tasia Jensen, CNBC, 4 Mar. 2025
That shared sense of purpose compelled them to form a cleanup brigade in the fires’ early days.
—Melanie Stetson Freeman, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Feb. 2025
There has never been dispute over whether the factory released or spilled the chemical at its property, where limited cleanups have been conducted since the early 2000s.
—Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clean (up)
Noun
Doing a quarterly grid cleanup where social media posts that are no longer relevant are archived clears space for people to receive the new social media marketing content.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
The fund provides low-interest loans with flexible terms to help with the environmental cleanup of vacant and underutilized properties.
—Celia Fernandez,tasia Jensen, CNBC, 4 Mar. 2025
That shared sense of purpose compelled them to form a cleanup brigade in the fires’ early days.
—Melanie Stetson Freeman, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Feb. 2025
There has never been dispute over whether the factory released or spilled the chemical at its property, where limited cleanups have been conducted since the early 2000s.
—Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clean (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clean (up)
Verb
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Rachel Davidson, an attorney with the ACLU of Massachusetts, said removing the articles and censoring medical research is a serious constitutional violation.—
Deon J. Hampton,
NBC News,
13 Mar. 2025
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Three years later, as part of that push, Wynn-Williams said Facebook considered a strategy to enter the country that would involve partnering with a Chinese company that would censor and hand over user data on behalf of the Chinese government.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
The Mercury News,
12 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Measles is a disease that has been considered largely eradicated in the United states for more than 20 years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
14 Mar. 2025
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The president signed an executive order in January that would help eradicate DEI programs across the federal government, with Cabinet members carrying out the order in various ways.—
Filip Timotija,
The Hill,
13 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Two killings in 27 hours A short while later, in April 2023, Messiah Nantwi detonated.—
Nicholas Williams,
New York Daily News,
16 Mar. 2025
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Police got the suspect’s description from security camera footage at Nash’s home in the 4900 block of Melinda Drive, where the killings took place.—
Harriet Ramos,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
15 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Over the years, the Legislature also imposed an expiration date for petition signatures and then shortened its lifespan from eight years to four years to two years.—
Jeffrey Schweers,
Orlando Sentinel,
16 Mar. 2025
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Employees must be given 60 days' notice of their end date, unless OPM grants a waiver to shorten that period to 30 days.—
Stephen Fowler,
NPR,
15 Mar. 2025
Verb
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That’s the short list of what this state’s brilliant educational minds, who are clearly raising absolutely no teenage boys, expect to erase.—
Pat Beall,
Orlando Sentinel,
16 Mar. 2025
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Time travel stories often feature grim themes of destruction and butterfly effect scenarios where even a single change can lead to disastrous outcomes (like Marty almost erasing himself from existence in Back to the Future).—
Hayes Madsen,
Rolling Stone,
16 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Perini refers to the economics of a $50 ribeye steak, explaining that 50% of the cost is tied to food, 40% goes to labor and overhead, and only about 10% is actual profit.—
Jessica Dupuy,
Forbes,
14 Mar. 2025
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In spite of sky-high costs and little in the way of profits, generative AI systems continue to proliferate.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
14 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The collection has been brilliantly edited and translated by Gwendolyn Harper (who also works part-time in The New Yorker’s fiction department).—
Graciela Mochkofsky,
The New Yorker,
18 Mar. 2025
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Note: Some letters have been lightly edited for brevity or clarity.—
Phil Thompson,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Yet even as years’ worth of political backlash has drowned out calls to defund or abolish forces, perceptions of police shaped by tragedies like George Floyd and Uvalde aren’t so easily forgotten.—
Judy Berman,
TIME,
12 Mar. 2025
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But the administration's efforts to abolish federal agencies authorized by Congress are likely to meet the same fate as their attempts to stiff USAID contractors.—
Faisal Kutty,
Newsweek,
11 Mar. 2025
Articles Related to clean (up)
Cite this Entry
“Clean (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clean%20%28up%29. Accessed 26 Mar. 2025.
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