spick-and-span

[ spik-uh n-span ]

/ ˈspɪk ənˈspæn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spick-and-span ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

spotlessly clean and neat: a spick-and-span kitchen.

perfectly new; fresh.

adverb

in a spick-and-span manner.

Nearby words

spicery, spicewood, spicey, spick, spick and span, spick-and-span, spicula, spiculate, spiculation, spicule, spiculum

Origin of spick-and-span

1570–80; short for spick-and-span-new, alliterative extension of span-new

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for spick-and-span

Nothing—except that the apartment was in spick-and-span order from end to end; and that must have taken some time to accomplish.
The Road to Understanding|Eleanor H. Porter
A spick-and-span Italian lieutenant of gendarmerie paused in front of him and was clearly interested.
The Birth of Yugoslavia, Volume 1|Henry Baerlein
He had recognized, despite disguising superficialities of garb and manner, Bertha's once spick-and-span butler.
Port O' Gold|Louis John Stellman
He indulged to the full his whim that everything entering into the construction of "Abraham" should be spick-and-span.
The Damnation of Theron Ware|Harold Frederic

But even they had to admit that Dickie was a spick-and-span young chap.
The Tale of Dickie Deer Mouse|Arthur Scott Bailey

British Dictionary definitions for spick-and-span

spick-and-span

spic-and-span

/ (ˈspɪkənˈspæn) /

adjective

extremely neat and clean

new and fresh

Word Origin for spick-and-span

C17: shortened from spick-and-span-new, from obsolete spick spike, nail + span-new

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012