clean up
Britishverb
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to rid (something) of dirt, filth, or other impurities
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to make (someone or something) orderly or presentable
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(tr) to rid (a place) of undesirable people or conditions
the campaign against vice had cleaned up the city
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informal (intr) to make a great profit
noun
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the process of cleaning up or eliminating something
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( as modifier )
a cleanup campaign
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informal a great profit
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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]
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Also, wash up . Wash or tidy oneself, as in Do I have time to clean up before dinner?
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Settle or dispose of, as in He cleaned up all the bills that had arrived during his vacation .
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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]
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Succeed, especially financially, as in We had fantastic luck at the races and really cleaned up . [ Slang ; first half of 1800s]
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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.
"I understood we had some sort of a process to clean up our national monuments, and I don't feel like he went through that process," she said.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
The company touted how AI features will help people write, summarize messages, clean up photos and more.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
Meanwhile, it is still rolling out new products, trying to stand out in the supermarket frozen aisle, and has stepped up efforts to clean up its finances and regulatory disclosures.
From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026
"We'd have to see who was actually elected, and then we'd seek to work with those who share ideals about trying to clean up Birmingham, save weekly bin collections, fix the potholes," he said.
From BBC • May 2, 2026
Once we’re done washing our plates, we head to Sneaky’s room to clean up, but we end up playing Madden NFL on his PlayStation instead.
From "Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero" by Kelly J. Baptist
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.
