clean house

clean house idiom
  1. Wipe out corruption or inefficiency, as in It's time the Republican Party cleaned house. This usage is most often applied to an organization. [Slang; c. 1900]
  2. Punish, give a beating, as in Whenever he was drunk he threatened to clean house on one and all. [Slang; c. 1900]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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