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Synonyms

clean out

British  

verb

  1. to remove (something) (from or away from)

  2. slang to leave (someone) with no money

    gambling had cleaned him out

  3. informal to exhaust (stocks, goods, etc) completely

"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 out Idioms  

  1. See clean up , def. 1.

  2. Empty something of its contents, leave bare. For example, The crows cleaned out the whole field of corn , or At the shop's first sale the customers cleaned out the entire stock of shoes . [Mid-1800s]

  3. Deprive of money or other material resources. This usage originated in gambling, where it signified losing one's last stake. Charles Dickens had it in Oliver Twist (1838): “He has cleaned me out, but I can go and earn some more.” [Early 1800s]

  4. Drive out by force, as in The new CEO tried to get away with cleaning out all employees over the age of 60 . [Mid-1800s]

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.

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