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Synonyms

clean up

British  

verb

  1. to rid (something) of dirt, filth, or other impurities

  2. to make (someone or something) orderly or presentable

  3. (tr) to rid (a place) of undesirable people or conditions

    the campaign against vice had cleaned up the city

  4. informal (intr) to make a great profit

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

    1. the process of cleaning up or eliminating something

    2. ( as modifier )

      a cleanup campaign

  2. informal a great profit

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
clean up Idioms  

  1. Also, clean out . Make clean or orderly, as in She cleaned up the cellar after the flood , or Dad said he cleaned out the garage . [First half of 1800s]

  2. Also, wash up . Wash or tidy oneself, as in Do I have time to clean up before dinner?

  3. Settle or dispose of, as in He cleaned up all the bills that had arrived during his vacation .

  4. Bring to a certain standard of order or morality, as in This script won't do; we'll have to clean up the language . Applied to personal behavior, it also is put as clean up one's act , as in He'll have to clean up his act and obey the rules . [c. 1900]

  5. Succeed, especially financially, as in We had fantastic luck at the races and really cleaned up . [ Slang ; first half of 1800s]

  6. Also, clean up on . Defeat or vanquish, kill, as in We're cleaning up all the other teams , or With enough ammunition we could clean up on this pocket of snipers . [ Slang ; mid-1800s]

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.

For years, researchers questioned whether macrophages, the immune cells that patrol the body and clean up debris, could truly become senescent.

From Science Daily • Apr. 16, 2026

Copenhagen paid nearly $30m in 2018 to clean up chemical spills in Ikateq and another base, but it wasn’t enough to cover larger installations elsewhere.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

The fall of Abalos and Cerdan -- two of Sanchez's closest allies -- has embarrassed a Sanchez who took power promising to clean up Spanish politics.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

Bass told the group she’s preparing to launch an initiative to clean up the city’s streets — and that she made a personnel move in that regard as well.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026

Rather than wait, the Japanese government undertook a massive clean up, digging up radioactive soil from contaminated towns and hauling it away.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

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.