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.

See Examples For:

cleaning cleanings

A cleaning tip to liberate your home from sticker tyranny: If you have a kiddo in your life, you know that stickers can magically appear on just about every surface within their arm’s reach.

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026

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

Jimenez, who landed the cleaning job in 2025, works an overnight shift at the Grand Central subway station that starts at 10 p.m.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

The death toll from devastating floods in southern China's Guangxi region rose to 39 on Thursday, with nine people still missing, state media reported, as residents went about cleaning up.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

I especially loved accompanying him to his cleaning or handyman work or as he ran his errands downtown, where the White people worked.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Ninety percent of new carwashes are express operations offering automated cleanings overseen by one or two employees.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026

In addition to toothpaste, researchers and the PerioTrap team have developed a gel used after professional dental cleanings to block harmful bacteria, support a healthy microbiome, and maintain gum health.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 13, 2026

I would always task myself with being as still as possible during my cleanings.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2025

"In between cleanings is when our alligators still manage to get them before they are removed."

From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2024

Instead of counting on a clean reaction, I'll do frequent "hydrogen cleanings" with a small flame.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

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