to clean with a mop
informal to complete (a task, etc)
military to clear (remaining enemy forces) after a battle, as by killing, taking prisoner, etc
Clear an area of remaining enemy troops after a victory, as in They left behind just one squadron to mop up . [c. 1900]
Perform the minor tasks that conclude a project or activity, as in Go ahead, I'll mop up these last invoices . [First half of 1900s] Both usages transfer the task of housecleaning with a mop to other kinds of cleanup.
First recorded in 1895–1900; noun use of verb phrase mop up
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Addressing the LAFD’s failure to fully extinguish the Lachman fire, which later reignited into the Palisades fire, Chief Jaime Moore conceded at a January board meeting that mop-up procedures needed to be strengthened.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026
Instead, we should be filling the hoses with water to do a more thorough mop-up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
Gardner said the department has since developed a post-fire policy and mop-up procedures after the Mountain fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
Even with the internal investigation underway, Moore said he spoke with the battalion chief who was on duty during the Lachman fire mop-up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2026
The mop-up operations won’t be long in coming—in fact, these days we find that the square root of the estimated time of a new development is generally the best time estimate.
From The Creature from Cleveland Depths by Leiber, Fritz
After a 2.3-acre brush fire ignited near Janss Road in Thousand Oaks last October, a drone team flew over the blaze’s footprint and identified hot spots to help firefighters mop up that same day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
Now, the roughly half a million barrels a day of Venezuelan crude that China used to mop up will likely be diverted to U.S. refineries along the Gulf Coast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
Kuroda didn’t, leaving Ueda to mop up his mess.
From Barron's ● Dec. 17, 2025
At Headingley, Stokes dismissed Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur to allow Josh Tongue to mop up the tail.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2025
A large store of proteins and sugars must be present to mop up the poison and wring it from the body.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
