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)
Joseph Wilson, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2024
Trump campaign officials spent the following hours and days of the MSG rally doing cleanup and trying to distance their candidate from the controversy.
—Rebecca Picciotto, CNBC, 3 Nov. 2024
These typically have an extremely high airflow capacity, making yard cleanup work much more efficient.
—Sandi Schwartz, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 Nov. 2024
Only a bug in the malware's cleanup attempts on a small fraction of the affected machines allowed Sophos to analyze the intrusions and begin to study the hackers targeting its products.
—Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for clean (up) 
Noun
Most of the cleanup of the layers and layers of mud and debris that has invaded countless homes has been done by residents and thousands of volunteers.
—Joseph Wilson, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2024
Trump campaign officials spent the following hours and days of the MSG rally doing cleanup and trying to distance their candidate from the controversy.
—Rebecca Picciotto, CNBC, 3 Nov. 2024
These typically have an extremely high airflow capacity, making yard cleanup work much more efficient.
—Sandi Schwartz, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 Nov. 2024
Only a bug in the malware's cleanup attempts on a small fraction of the affected machines allowed Sophos to analyze the intrusions and begin to study the hackers targeting its products.
—Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for clean (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clean (up)
Verb
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In a perfect world, there would be some logic to getting rid of the equal-time rule, and, quite frankly, the same FCC regulations that force networks to censor four-letter words that are ubiquitous on virtually every other form of media.Josef Adalian, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2024
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For Chris Hill, who runs operations for a commercial bathroom remodeling firm in nearby Mechanicsburg, Musk is taking a stand against cosmopolitan elites who want to censor his language and suppress his political views.Eric Cortellessa / Lancaster, TIME, 27 Oct. 2024
Verb
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She's violated her oath, eradicated our sovereign border, and unleashed an army of gangs and criminal migrants from prisons and jails.NBC News, NBC News, 3 Nov. 2024
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Five came from teams that posted losing records, leading to bad tendencies that need to be eradicated as quickly as possible.Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The White House had an additional security perimeter put in place due to the unrest following the killing of George Floyd in 2020.Ted Johnson, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2024
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In April, Iran conducted its first-ever direct missile and drone strikes on Israel in response to the killing of several Iranian military officials at an Iranian consular facility in Syria.David Faris, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Or is it shortened from OPSEC (Operations Security) SWAT team?PCMAG, PCMAG, 7 Nov. 2024
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Kardashian styled the necklace differently, shortening the pearl chain significantly, and wearing it alongside a stack of jewels, including a six-strand pearl choker.Leah Dolan, CNN, 4 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Harris erased Trump’s lead over Biden since announcing her candidacy on July 21, though her edge has decreased over the past two months, peaking at 3.7 points in late August, according to FiveThirtyEight’s weighted polling average.Sara Dorn, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
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The sudden drop erased much of the company’s gains from a massive rally in October, when its share price more than tripled.Dan Mangan,Kevin Breuninger,Jake Piazza,Annie Nova,Rebecca Picciotto,Ece Yildirim, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2024
Noun
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All of the profits from the Puppy Love shampoo will benefit Aniston's animal-centric nonprofit, The Clydeo Fund.Margaux Anbouba, Vogue, 20 Nov. 2024
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Adjusted operating profit rose 8 percent to 118.5 million euros.Luisa Zargani, WWD, 20 Nov. 2024
Verb
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This interview, which took place before Tuesday’s election, has been edited for length and clarity.Sean Illing, Vox, 9 Nov. 2024
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This conversation has been edited for length, continuity and clarity.Megan Poinski, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Despite proposals to change or abolish the Electoral College (the University of Central Florida reports there have been over 1,000), there are many reasons why these attempts failed.Russell Falcon, The Hill, 3 Nov. 2024
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Alaska, California, Louisiana and Washington have abolished party primaries for congressional elections and replaced them with open, all-candidate primaries.Russell Contreras, Axios, 29 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Clean (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clean%20%28up%29. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
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