English Explanatory Dictionary

clean

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj

Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled.
Of metal, having relatively few impurities.
Free of contamination, (unwanted) germs, infection, or disease.
Devoid of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Free of imperfections, blemishes, or defects.
Of a victory or performance: without any blemishes such as submission holds, disqualification, interference, etc.
Of a route, ascended without falling.
Free from that which is useless or injurious; without defects.
In an unmarked condition; blank.
Free of immorality or criminality.
Pure, especially morally or religiously.
Not using drugs or alcohol.

noun

A removal of dirt.
The first part of the event clean and jerk in which the weight is brought from the ground to the shoulders.
Of heavy metal, clear vocals, contrasted with death growls and screams.

verb

To remove dirt from a place or object.
To tidy up, make a place neat.
To remove equipment from a climbing route after it was previously lead climbed.
To make things clean in general.
To remove unnecessary files, etc. from (a directory, etc.).
To brush the ice lightly in front of a moving rock to remove any debris and ensure a correct line; less vigorous than a sweep.
To purge a raw of any blemishes caused by the scanning process such as brown tinting and poor color contrast.
Synonym of clean up.
To remove guts and/or scales of a butchered animal.
To beat, to thrash; to defeat.

adv

Fully and completely.

name

A surname.

Pronunciation

/kliːn/ [kʰl̥iːn] En-uk-clean.ogg klēn [kʰl̥ĩːn] en-us-clean.ogg klān /kleːn/ [kʰl̥eːn]

Word forms

clean cleaner cleanest cleans cleaning cleaned

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *klainī Old English clǣne Middle English clene English clean From Middle English clene, clane, from Old English clǣne (“clean, pure”), from Proto-West Germanic *klainī (“shining, fine, splendid, tender”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *glēy- (“gleaming”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to gleam”). Cognate with Scots clean (“absolute, pure, clear, empty”) and clene, clane (“clean”), North Frisian klien (“small”), West Frisian klien (“small”), klean (“clean”), Dutch klein (“small”), Low German kleen (“small”), German klein (“small”), Swedish klen (“weak, feeble, delicate”), Icelandic klénn (“poor, feeble, petty, snug, puny, cheesy, lame”).

Synonyms

clean clean as a bean clean as a hound's tooth clean as a new penny clean as a new pin clean as a whistle immaculate pristine spick-and-span spotless squeaky clean stainless unsoiled unsullied vacant void empty empty as a pauper's purse empty as the tomb on Easter leer toom unfilled vacuumlike vacuous clean up

Antonyms

dirty unclean

Related words

pure make clean dry-clean vacuum-clean Macclean Mac Clean MaClean McClean Mc Clean M'Clean

Derived words

a new broom sweeps clean bioclean broom-clean certificate of clean criminal record cleanaholic clean as a bean clean as a hound's tooth clean as a new penny clean as a new pin clean as a whistle clean bill of health clean bomb clean bowl clean break clean bulk clean chit clean coal clean code clean coder clean copy clean eating clean electricity clean fashion clean feed clean fetish clean fill clean float cleanfluencer clean freak clean girl clean-handed clean hands clean house cleanish clean-label clean label clean language clean-limbed clean link clean-living cleanly clean meat clean money cleanness clean potato clean power clean price cleanroom clean room clean-shaved cleanshaven clean sheet clean shell clean skin cleanskin clean slate cleantech clean teen cleanth clean-timbered

Translations

Afrikaans: skoon Albanian: pastër Southern Altai: ару Arabic: نَظِيف Arabic: نضيف Aragonese: limpio Aragonese: neto Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܸܟ݂ܝܵܐ Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܬܲܡܸܙ Armenian: մաքուր Aromanian: curat Aromanian: albu (roa-rup) Aromanian: spilat Aromanian: chischin Aromanian: spastru Aromanian: pãstrit Assamese: চফা Assamese: চাফা Assamese: চাফ চিকুণ Assamese: চিকুণ Assamese: পৰিষ্কাৰ Asturian: llimpiu Azerbaijani: təmiz Azerbaijani: arı Bashkir: таҙа Basque: garbi Belarusian: чы́сты Bengali: পরিষ্কার Bengali: সাফ Central Bikol: malinig Breton: dilastez Bulgarian: чист Burmese: သန့် Catalan: net Chechen: цӏена Cherokee: ᎤᏓᏅᎦᎸᏓ Chickasaw: chifata Chickasaw: chofata Chinese Cantonese: 乾淨 /干净 Chinese Mandarin: 乾淨 /干净 Chuvash: таса West Circassian: къабзэ Cornish: glan Czech: čistý Danish: ren Dutch: schoon Dutch: proper Egyptian: wab-mw Esperanto: pura Estonian: puhas Faroese: reinur Finnish: puhdas French: propre French: net French: clean Friulian: net Galician: limpo Georgian: სუფთა

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