clean room

American  

noun

clean rooms plural

1. a room in which contaminants such as dust are reduced to a very low level by special procedures so that operations such as the manufacture and assembly of delicate equipment or the manipulation of biological materials can be performed effectively.

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clean room Scientific  

/ klēn /

1. A room that is maintained free of contaminants, such as dust or bacteria. Clean rooms are used in laboratory work and in the production of precision parts for electronic or aerospace equipment.

2. Also called white room

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• clean rooms
  plural

Etymology

Origin of clean room

An Americanism dating back to 1960–65

Example Sentences

Although memory makers are making efforts to address supply constraints, Pajjuri said he expects growth there to remain flat until later next year, as there’s limited space in the clean room where chips are manufactured.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 15, 2026

Micron is expected to bring two chip factories online in Idaho by the end of 2028, each with around 600,000 square feet of clean room capacity.

From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026

Micron’s ability to increase supply is constrained by a lack of available clean room capacity, which is where memory is manufactured, they say.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

“Can I just get a clean room without having another fee thrown at me?” he said.

From Slate • Nov. 18, 2025

I expected the nurses to put her in a clean room in the main hospital ward, where doctors could treat her and make her well.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry