cleaning

American

[klee-ning] / ˈkli nɪŋ /

noun

an act or instance of making clean.

Give the house a good cleaning.
Slang. an overwhelming or complete defeat, financial loss, or failure.

Our team took a cleaning in yesterday's game.
Informal. killing.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

self-cleaning

adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

cleanings

plural

Etymology

Origin of cleaning

First recorded in 1655–75; clean + -ing ¹

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.

He said the council is not engaging with traders, but that they have carried out "minimal cleaning" since he first flagged concerns.

From BBC • Jul. 11, 2026

"While historic indoor markets present unique operational challenges, our maintenance teams are actively addressing immediate issues, including external weeding, deep cleaning, and structural upkeep," it continued.

From BBC • Jul. 11, 2026

The most coveted job in New York City might not be on Wall Street or Broadway, but underground, cleaning the subway.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 10, 2026

The men were denied yard time the next day as punishment for not cleaning up the mess themselves, he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 10, 2026

It’s Saturday morning, better known as cleaning day in the Williams household.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023