cleaning

American  

[klee-ning] / ˈkli nɪŋ /

noun

1. an act or instance of making clean.

   Give the house a good cleaning.

2. Slang. an overwhelming or complete defeat, financial loss, or failure.

   Our team took a cleaning in yesterday's game.

3. Informal. killing.

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Other Word Forms

• self-cleaning adjective

Etymology

Origin of cleaning

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

Example Sentences

Cataloging what I have — and tossing whatever is expired, off or otherwise a little gross — feels like a little spring cleaning in miniature.

From Salon

Walking or biking to work, along with everyday activities such as gardening or cleaning, can also contribute.

From Science Daily

“My Soul / Half Pint,” which features Dry Cleaning fan Jeff Tweedy of Wilco on clanging guitar, is about a woman who meticulously arranges her house but finds cleaning “demeaning.”

From The Wall Street Journal

That role comes with a surprising amount of quiet labor: the planning and budgeting, the cooking itself, the cleaning and storing, the ongoing mental inventory of what’s on hand and what’s slipping past its prime.

From Salon

Techniques for cleaning up our media environment are still in their infancy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• purification
• sanitation
• sterilization
• washing