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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.

The city's Conservative leader Robert Alden says they would keep bin collections weekly, introduce clean up crews for each ward and deal with the "frankly embarrassing" road conditions.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

Meanwhile, a reporter who did her own research but asked an A.I. to clean up her prose might get flagged.

From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026

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

Can you send a crew over to clean up the mess?

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026

I ask if they can help clean up and paint the basement room over the next few days.

From "A Soft Place to Land" by Janae Marks

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.