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Synonyms

cleaning

American  
[klee-ning] / ˈkli nɪŋ /

noun

  1. an act or instance of making clean.

    Give the house a good cleaning.

  2. Slang. an overwhelming or complete defeat, financial loss, or failure.

    Our team took a cleaning in yesterday's game.

  3. Informal. killing.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of cleaning

First recorded in 1655–75; clean + -ing 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Cleaning gets much easier when you’re not working around things that are broken, frustrating, or just not serving you anymore.

From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026

Cleaning air filters removes dust, pet hair and germs, and — the best part — replacing them is inexpensive and easy.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 28, 2026

The Cleaning Lady producer Warner Bros Television and Fox said that they were aware of the charges against Busfield and would work with law enforcement.

From BBC • Jan. 15, 2026

London band Dry Cleaning has been one of the more notable practitioners of the genre in this decade.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 6, 2026

“Dante’s good at a lot of things. But he’s not very good at cleaning his room. Cleaning a room is too closely related to the word work.”

From "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.