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
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
More than a year after the Palisades fire, the public has yet to hear directly from firefighters about their mop-up of the Lachman fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2026
"Golly, I want to be a Thorgunner and get in on the mop-up when it comes!"
From Be It Ever Thus by Williams, Robert Moore
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
California State Parks says no one from its agency interfered with fire suppression or mop up or influenced LAFD’s decision to not use bulldozers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2025
Kuroda didn’t, leaving Ueda to mop up his mess.
From Barron's ● Dec. 17, 2025
It states that “modified mop up for ground fuels should be utilized where possible” and “spading should be minimized and restricted to hot areas near fire lines.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2025
The nurse tells Seamus she has to go and he’s to sweep the lint from under my bed and mop up a bit around the ward.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
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.
