clean bill of health

noun

1. a certificate of health attesting the lack of a contagious disease, as on a ship.

2. an assurance, as by a doctor, that one is in good health.

3. Also clean bill an assurance, especially an official verdict by a committee, that a group or an individual has proved, under investigation, to be morally sound, fit for office, etc.

clean bill of health

1. To “get a clean bill of health” is to be told by some authoritative source, generally a doctor, that one is perfectly healthy. The phrase is sometimes used figuratively to indicate that a person or organization has been found free of any sort of irregularity: “After looking into her financial background, the Senate gave the nominee a clean bill of health.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of clean bill of health¹

First recorded in 1850–55

Idioms and Phrases

A report confirming the absence of fault or guilt in a person or thing, as in Jeff checked every component and gave the computer a clean bill of health, or He had a foolproof alibi so the police had to give him a clean bill of health. This term comes from a 17th-century practice of requiring ships to produce a medical document (bill) attesting to the absence of infectious disease on board before landing.

Example Sentences

Givan said they "concluded that review and gave a clean bill of health, not just to me as minister but to every civil servant in my department that their actions were entirely appropriate".

Read more on BBC

Scotland's autumn squad will be named on 21 October and, with the exception of Huw Jones, it looks like a fairly clean bill of health.

Read more on BBC

The Royal Navy said despite the team's best efforts, one of the litter died, though the rest "came through some difficult hours to thrive – receiving a clean bill of health from a local vet".

Read more on BBC

But whether USC will have a clean bill of health by then remains to be seen.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She steadily improved and within a year got a clean bill of health.

Read more on Science Magazine