cleanly

American  

[klen-lee, kleen-lee] / ˈklɛn li, ˈklin li /

adjective

cleanlier, cleanliest

1. personally neat; careful to keep or make clean.

   The cat is by nature a cleanly animal.

2. habitually kept clean.

3. Obsolete. cleansing; making clean.

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adverb

1. in a clean manner.

cleanly British  

/ ˈklɛnlɪnɪs, ˈklɛnlɪlɪ /

adverb

1. in a fair manner

2. easily or smoothly

   the screw went into the wood cleanly

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adjective

1. habitually clean or neat

Other Word Forms

• cleanlily adverb
• cleanliness noun

Etymology

Origin of cleanly

before 900; Middle English clenlich ( e ), Old English clǣnlīc, equivalent to clǣne clean + -līc -ly

Example Sentences

A straight left from the champion's southpaw stance landed cleanly and regularly in the third round as the gap in class became increasingly clear.

From BBC

They’re responding to an economy where the usual advice no longer lines up cleanly with outcomes.

From The Wall Street Journal

Some might assume that apps like Instagram and Snapchat contribute to feelings of loneliness because they encourage people to speak online rather than in person - but the data doesn't cleanly support this.

From BBC

In the bottom of the ninth in Game 7, playing second base with the infield in, Rojas cleanly fielded a grounder and threw out Isiah Kiner-Falefa by inches at home plate to save the game.

From Los Angeles Times

"Our biggest challenge," Toda, another first author, explains, "was cleanly separating two kinds of signals from a single image while keeping noise low and avoiding mixing between them."

From Science Daily