1
as in to tidy (up)
to make a place neat and orderly by removing extraneous stuff
you're expected to clean up after you use the workroom
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2
as in to censor
to remove objectionable parts from
cleaned up the rock star's interview before publishing it in the newspaper
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3
as in to eradicate
to destroy all traces of
hurriedly cleaned up the mess that they had created in the kitchen
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as in killing
an exceptionally large return
The couple made a cleanup when they flipped the house.
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of clean (up)
Maggie Horton, People.com, 5 Jan. 2025
Additionally, international collaboration is vital to standardize regulations, fund cleanup initiatives, and prevent transboundary plastic waste leakage.
—Dianne Plummer, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
The question of who pays for cleanup remains unanswered.
—Mark Olalde, ProPublica, 30 Dec. 2024
Fourth prize — the Mets (yep, another team citation)
The Mets didn’t have any cleanup hitters lose a tussle with a wild boar this season.
—Jayson Stark, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for clean (up) 
Noun
The protective seal, which is stain, chip, and crack-resistant, also makes the Dutch oven dishwasher safe for easy cleanup.
—Maggie Horton, People.com, 5 Jan. 2025
Additionally, international collaboration is vital to standardize regulations, fund cleanup initiatives, and prevent transboundary plastic waste leakage.
—Dianne Plummer, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2024
The question of who pays for cleanup remains unanswered.
—Mark Olalde, ProPublica, 30 Dec. 2024
Fourth prize — the Mets (yep, another team citation)
The Mets didn’t have any cleanup hitters lose a tussle with a wild boar this season.
—Jayson Stark, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for clean (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clean (up)
Verb
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During the interview, Lopez dropped an expletive that the show censored on the air while the star gave a passionate explanation about self-funding the project.Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 10 Jan. 2025
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But, in a twist, that opinion held that blocking China from potentially being able to censor Americans' speech was upholding the spirit of the First Amendment.Bobby Allyn, NPR, 10 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Israel then vowed to eradicate Hamas and have since devastated the Palestinian territory.John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
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Killing female deer weakens a herd’s ability to grow, and officials thought that thinning out deer herds was the key to eradicating the disease and preserving wild herd health.Sophie Hartley, Scientific American, 10 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The highest-profile killings were the murders of Kayla Cuevas, 16, and Nisa Mickens, 15, in Brentwood on Sept. 13, 2016.Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 15 Jan. 2025
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The department had long engaged in mistreatment of the city’s Black community and been plagued by high-profile scandals including a 1994 murder ordered by a corrupt officer and an attempt to cover up police killings of unarmed civilians in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.Jack Brook, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2025
Verb
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While many top 10 hits give the listener more chorus as a song progresses, the ‘Blinding Lights’ creators actually shorten the chorus as the song progresses.Gary Trust, Billboard, 10 Jan. 2025
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The state is also working on streamlining paperwork for transfers and shortening transition timelines.A.D. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 9 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The odds are that the response will sit in an internal digital memory buffer for a while and not be immediately erased or discarded.Lance Eliot, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
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Nearby Altadena, a historically largely Black neighborhood, has essentially been erased from the map.Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 15 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Skip to main content Vox logo Big Oil and Big Ag are teaming up to turn cow poop into energy — and profits.Kenny Torrella, Vox, 13 Jan. 2025
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This seems designed to head off accusations that clubs can boost their balance sheet for PSR (profit and sustainability rules) or SCMP (Salary Cost Management Protocol) purposes.Richard Sutcliffe, The Athletic, 13 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The summaries below were drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division.Stories by Real-Time news team, with AI summarization, Miami Herald, 17 Jan. 2025
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By Ben Guarino edited by Dean Visser Join Our Community of Science Lovers!Ben Guarino, Scientific American, 17 Jan. 2025
Verb
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That loophole remained open following the most recent U.S. election, which saw California voters shooting down Proposition 6, which would have abolished prison labor.Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 11 Jan. 2025
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So legislation abolishing the department (already written by GOP Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota) would have to pass through budget reconciliation, which lets certain legislation pass with a mere majority in the Senate.Dylan Matthews, Vox, 2 Jan. 2025
Articles Related to clean (up)
Cite this Entry
“Clean (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clean%20%28up%29. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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