cleanout

[kleen-out]

noun

1. an act of cleaning out.

2. an opening or passage giving access to a place that requires occasional cleaning, as a soil pipe.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cleanout¹

1885–90, noun use of verb phrase clean out

Example Sentences

Galvanised by the dismissal, Wales kept plugging away and this time it was Scotland who were under the TMO microscope with Gallagher shown a card for a dangerous cleanout which would later be upgraded after a bunker review.

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To welcome me, the two of them did a complete cleanout of my cage.

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Had there been no cleanout, the sediment would’ve been so high by now, the dam’s release valves would’ve clogged, and officials would’ve been helpless as floodwaters rushed over the spillway, resulting in an uncontrolled flow downstream along the Arroyo Seco.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The cleanout was controversial more than a decade ago, with some neighbors and nature enthusiasts initially opposing it, upset about the loss of trees and other vegetation being torn up to clear room to store fast-moving mud falling from the mountains during rainstorms.

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And unless they start hitting in Houston, their next ride home will be only for a clubhouse cleanout — not a parade.

Read more on Seattle Times