housecleaning

American  

[hous-klee-ning] / ˈhaʊsˌkli nɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of cleaning a house, room, etc., and its furnishings, especially the act of cleaning thoroughly and completely.

2. the act of improving or reforming by weeding out excess or corrupt personnel or of revising methods of operation.

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Etymology

Origin of housecleaning

First recorded in 1860–65; house + cleaning

Example Sentences

Bowman has slashed staff and pursued what many inside and outside the central bank view as a housecleaning of the supervision and regulation division’s senior leadership.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026

Irregular labor like yard work or housecleaning is their only way of making a living.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 27, 2024

Spending time with such a character inspired Wenders to do a little housecleaning.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 29, 2023

The housecleaning could delay processing the income statements because the financial team had been reshuffled, the source said, adding "with some firings, rediscovering the past gets even more complicated."

From Reuters • Jun. 22, 2023

Mr. Chong was a retired piano teacher and my mother had traded housecleaning services for weekly lessons and a piano for me to practice on every day, two hours a day, from four until six.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan