housecleaning

American  

[hous-klee-ning] / ˈhaʊsˌkli nɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of cleaning a house, room, etc., and its furnishings, especially the act of cleaning thoroughly and completely.

2. the act of improving or reforming by weeding out excess or corrupt personnel or of revising methods of operation.

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Etymology

Origin of housecleaning

First recorded in 1860–65; house + cleaning

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

housecleaning

While preparing for the country’s planned celebration of its 250th birthday, Trump decided to do a little housecleaning and update the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, vowing to make it better than ever.

From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026

This wasn’t a major housecleaning but more like a culling of online subscriptions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026

Spending time with such a character inspired Wenders to do a little housecleaning.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2023

Variously voiced tales ranging from a shocking deathbed confession, a macabre housecleaning service, a half-haunted house and an interstellar thrill ride will engage even jaded listeners.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 5, 2023

At The Maids, a housecleaning service, I am given something called the “Accutrac personality test,” which warns at the beginning that “Accutrac has multiple measures which detect attempts to distort or ‘psych out’ the questionnaire.”

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich