mopping-up

[mop-ing-uhp]

adjective

serving to complete or put the finishing touches to a phase of a particular action.
serving to complete a military campaign by killing or capturing any remaining enemy troops: a mopping-up operation.

Origin of mopping-up

1905–10; mop up + -ing¹, used attributively

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mopping-up

Historical Examples of mopping-up

These were handled by the mopping-up troops, who threw hand-grenades.
Our Army at the Front
Heywood Broun
Most of the black platoons, he observed, had participated mainly in mopping-up operations or combat against a disorganized enemy.
Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965
Morris J. MacGregor, Jr.
Very good work was also done by the mopping-up platoon of D Company, under Sergt.
The Sherwood Foresters in the Great War 1914 - 1919
Captain W. C. C. Weetman
The fifth wave is a mopping-up party to clear the enemy's dugouts.
Military Instructors Manual
James P. Cole and Oliver Schoonmaker