Clean Definition

klēn
cleaned, cleanest, cleaning, cleans, cleaner
adjective
cleanest, cleaner
Free from dirt, contamination, impurities, pollutants, etc.; unsoiled; unstained.
Webster's New World
Free from foreign matter or pollution; unadulterated.
Clean air; clean drinking water.
American Heritage
Free from disease, infection, radioactivity, etc.
Webster's New World
Not infected.
A clean wound.
American Heritage
Producing little immediate fallout.
Webster's New World
adverb
So as to be unsoiled.
Wash the dishes clean.
American Heritage
In a clean manner.
Webster's New World
In a fair manner.
Played the game clean.
American Heritage
Completely; wholly.
Clean forgotten.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
verb
cleaned, cleaning, cleans
To rid of dirt, rubbish, or impurities.
Clean a room; clean a suit.
American Heritage
To be made clean.
Webster's New World
To make clean.
Webster's New World
To remove (dirt, impurities, etc.) in making clean.
Webster's New World
To prepare (fish, fowl, etc.) for cooking.
Webster's New World
noun
Removal of dirt.
This place needs a clean.
Wiktionary
(weightlifting) The first part of the event clean and jerk in which the weight is brought from the ground to the shoulders.
Wiktionary
idiom
clean house
  • To eliminate or discard what is undesirable:

    The scandal forced the company to clean house.

American Heritage
clean out
  • to empty so as to make clean
  • to empty
Webster's New World
clean up
  • to make clean, neat, or orderly
  • to make oneself clean and neat; get washed, combed, etc.
Webster's New World
clean up on
  • to defeat; beat
Webster's New World
come clean
  • to confess; tell the truth
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Clean

Noun

Singular:
clean
Plural:
cleans

Adjective

Base Form:
clean
Comparative:
cleaner
Superlative:
cleanest

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Clean

Origin of Clean

  • From Middle English clene, clane, from Old English clǣne (“clean, pure, chaste, innocent, unencumbered, unfettered, hallowed, clear, open, honorable, true, acute, sagacious, intellectual”), from Proto-Germanic *klainiz (“shining, fine, splendid, tender”), from Proto-Indo-European *g(e)lēi- (“gleaming”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to gleam”). Cognate with Scots clean (“absolute, pure, clear, empty”) and clene, clane (“clean”), North Frisian klien (“small”), Dutch klein (“small”), Low German kleen (“small”), German klein (“small”), Swedish klen (“weak, feeble, delicate”), Icelandic klénn (“poor, feeble, petty, snug, puny, cheesy, lame”). Displaced Old English sȳfre (“clean, sober”), hlūtor (“pure, clear, clean, bright”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English clene from Old English clǣne

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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