cleaning

[klee-ning]

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.

Other Word Forms

• self-cleaning adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cleaning¹

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

Example Sentences

She also told me to identify the biggest sources of exposure in my home - change my cookware, use a water filter, switch cleaning products, check my make-up and hair-colouring and be wary of "waterproof" labels.

Read more on BBC

Getting home and cooking dinner, bathing their children and cleaning.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In August, China held a humanoid robotics Olympics, where devices competed in soccer, kickboxing and even cleaning rooms.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The method begins with cleaning the tooth surface and then carefully removing only the enamel for testing.

Read more on Science Daily

For a while, Black Friday even began on Thanksgiving itself, with some stores opening while people were barely finished cleaning their plates.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• purification 
• sanitation 
• sterilization 
• washing