cleann.
An act of cleaning: chiefly in combination, as clean-up n., clean-out, etc.
ΘΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > [noun] > an act of cleaning
cleanse1760
toilet1862
clean-up1876
cleana1889
spruce-up1918
a1889 Mod. colloq. Give it a clean before returning it.
Draft additions 1997
2. Weightlifting. The action of lifting a bar-bell from the floor to shoulder height in a single movement: usually the first part of an overhead lift, followed by a jerk or press. Frequently in phrases clean and jerk, clean and press. Cf. jerk n.1 5, press n.1 11d.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > athletics > [noun] > weight-lifting > types of lift
dead lift1828
jerk1894
press1906
clean1913
snatch1928
cleaning1949
1913 Health & Strength 6 Dec. 632/2 L.h. clean and jerk.
1928 Health & Strength Ann. 77 ‘Two Hands Clean and Military Press with Barbell’..and the ‘Two Hands Clean and Jerk with Barbell’.
1947 Brit. Amateur Weight-Lifter Jan. 12/2 He also set up a new American Clean and Jerk record.
1961 Muscle Power Nov. 18 If you had only one exercise to do, what would it be? I asked this question of a number of prominent bodybuilders. About 60% of them agreed that they would favor the Two-hands Clean and Press.
1961 Muscle Power Nov. 18 The Clean to chest requires great leg and lower back strength.
1975 Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 1099/1 At the 1924 Olympic Games the lifts were one hand snatch, opposite one hand jerk, two hands clean and press, two hands snatch, and two hands clean and jerk.
1991 Longevity Jan. 60/2 The riskiest moves for your back are the clean-and-jerk, the snatch, the squat and the dead-lift.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
cleanadj.
/kliːn/, U.S. /klin/ I. That is clear in quality; free of encumbrance.
1. Clear.† a. Free from anything that dims lustre or transparency. Obsolete.In later use passing into sense 2.† b. figurative.† c. Clear in sound or tone. Obsolete.† d. Clear of all encumbrance or restrictions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > transparency or translucence > [adjective]
shireOE
brightOE
through-shineOE
cleanc1040
cleara1400
transparent1413
crystalc1425
crystallinec1425
crystal-clear?a1439
pure1481
perspicuatea1500
beryl1508
through-shining1526
diaphane1561
thorough-seeable1562
pellucid1563
sheer1565
translucent1568
liquid1590
tralucent?1592
perspicuous1599
thorough light1601
diaphanic1614
diaphanous1614
perspicable1615
translucid1615
diaphanal1616
lucid1620
diaphaned1626
transpicuous1638
perlucid1647
dioptrical1760
dioptric1801
unconcealing1804
see-through1851
pellucent1886
pool-clear1924
c1040 in Sax. Leechd. II. 296 Þæt eal se lichoma sy clanes hiwes.
a1123 Anglo-Saxon Chron. anno 1110 Ealle þa niht wæs seo lyft swiðe clene.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvi. xcix. 880 Glas is clene and pure and specialliche bright and clere.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. vii. sig. G3 All of Diamond perfect pure and cleene.
1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard Hist. Life Duke of Espernon ii. viii. 366 A Diamond..reputed one of the finest and cleanest for its size in France.
1708 London Gaz. No. 4499/4 One other rough Stone..Christaline, White and Clean.
ΚΠ
c1000 Ags. Ps. lxii. 9 [lxiii. 11] Kynincg sceal on Drihtne clæne blisse, hluttre habban.
ΚΠ
OE Cynewulf Elene 749 Þas word cweðaþ clænum stefnum, (þam is ceraphin nama).
ΚΠ
a1300 Charter of Eadweard dated 1067 in Cod. Dipl. IV. 199 Ælfrid hauet yseld Gise biscop his land..sacleas and clæne.
e. Of a vessel: clear of advance commission, dispatch money, and other charges, which may constitute deductions from the freight.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > trading vessel > cargo vessel > [adjective] > clear of charges deductible from freight
clean1890
1890 Whitby Gaz. 17 Jan. 2/7 Thomas Turnbull, Cardiff to Cape Verde, 9s. 6d., clean.
1891 Whitby Gaz. 18 Sept. 3/2 Stakesby, Cardiff to Gibraltar, 6s. 6d., clean and nett.
II. Pure, undefiled, unsullied.† 7. Of style or language: Free from faults, correct, pure, ‘chaste’, elegant. Obsolete or archaic.† 8. Net. Obsolete.
2.
a. Free from any defiling or deteriorating ingredient; unmixed with foreign matter, pure, unadulterated. Now commonly expressed by pure, except when the contaminating ingredient is ‘dirt’; as in ‘pure’ or ‘clean water’; clean air, unpolluted atmosphere (frequently attributive). As applied to metals, there may originally have been connection with the preceding notion of ‘clear’, ‘undimmed’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > state or quality of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded > [adjective] > unadulterated or undiluted
clean883
purea1393
uncorrumpeda1400
uncorrupted1541
sincere1557
stark naked?1594
undelayed1600
unsophisticated1630
entire1640
inadulterate1648
dephlegmated1651
neat1651
unalloyeda1672
intaminateda1695
undrossy1708
net1713
unadulterate1716
unsophistical1736
uncauponateda1752
undiluted1756
absolute1810
undefecated1812
unadulterated1823
undilute1876
undoctored1882
uncut1967
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > ventilation and air-conditioning > [adjective] > clean (air)
live1830
clean air1927
883 Cod. Dipl. II. 111 Ðæt land ic selle Cynulfe for syxtigum mancesa clænes goldes.
a1000 Canons of Edgar §39 in B. Thorpe Anc. Laws Eng. (1840) II. 252 Clæne oflete, and clæne win, and clæne wæter.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 435 Hyr maydenes brouȝte hyre clene water.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. vii. 292 Bred..of clene whete.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Rev. xxi. 18 The citee it silf was of cleene gold, lijk to cleene glas.
c1440 Gesta Romanorum (Harl.) lxiv. 276 I am an infant at þe pappis, and live with clene melke.
1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 17 A torche of clene vexe [wax].
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria i. f. 16v He gave a senser, and a shyp of clene syluer [L. argento puro].
1584 Partridge's Treasurie (rev. ed.) lxxx. sig. E6 A little cleane wine.
1630 R. Norton tr. W. Camden Hist. Princesse Elizabeth i. 48 Good money of cleane siluer.
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 59 Half-clean hemp is very foul, and full of shivers.
1872 R. B. Smyth Mining Statist. 26 A seam of good clean coal.
1883 Cassell's Family Mag. Aug. 528/1 The beans [are] then put through a winnower..and it is then called ‘clean coffee’.
1927 Lancet 26 Mar. 685/1 Smethwick in Staffordshire held a ‘Clean Air Week’ from March 14th to 19th, during which period an effort was made to keep the atmosphere free from smoke.
1957 Ann. Reg. 1956 iv. 348 The passage of a Clean Air Act..was welcomed by smoke abatement enthusiasts and by all concerned with public health.
1958 Times 2 June p. xii/4 The problem of securing clean air, that is to say an atmosphere throughout the whole country relatively free from pollution and contamination.
Categories »
b. Of arable land: free from weeds, creeping roots, and the like, prejudicial to husbandry.
c. With reference to sensations of taste, smell, etc.: sharp, fresh, distinctive.
ΚΠ
1917 Harrods Gen. Catal. 1289/2 Chablis, very delicate, clean, dry wine, free from acidity.
1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby iii. 61 Clean, crisp mornings.
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August v. 102 He emerged into the gray and yellow of dawn, the clean chill, breathing it deep.
1933 W. Faulkner Green Bough 27 The clean smell of its strength upon him blown.
1966 ‘J. Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea ii. 77 The strong taste of punch, the cleaner taste of champagne.
1980 M. Broadbent Great Vintage Wine Bk. 275 1961..Chablis, Beugnons..Attractive: pale, clean and dry when first tasted in 1965.
d. Of a second-hand motor car: in good condition. (Commercial usage.)
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor car > [adjective] > in good condition
clean1968
1968 Oxf. Times 5 Jan. 21/3 (advt.) Clean motor cars bought for cash.
1968 Observer 24 Mar. 6/4 The increase in purchase tax..has put about £30 on the price of even a small new car. ‘That means’, says Mr Bluston, of Sand B Motors in Warren Street, the centre of the London used-car trade, ‘that a late, clean, used car is a buying proposition.’
1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 17 June 8- f/1 (advt.) We pay cash for clean used cars!
3.
a. Free from dirt or filth; unsoiled or unstained: the usual opposite of dirty or foul. Now the ordinary sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > [adjective]
cleanc897
fair?c1225
netc1330
cleanly1340
unspotted1382
blotless?a1400
unwemmeda1400
spotlessc1400
neat1494
unblotted1548
unstained1555
stainlessa1586
exempt1586
unsoiledc1592
undefiled1596
unsullied1598
dirtlessa1618
immaculatea1631
innocent1645
unsmeared1648
unsmutched1809
speckless1827
spandy-clean1838
unblackened1864
soilless1868
smudgeless1924
clinical1932
squeaky clean1975
c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care xxxix. 283 Ðonne bið ðæt hus clæne.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 435 And wesse her fet al clene.
c1394 P. Pl. Crede 689 Þei ben cloþed in cloþ þat clennest scheweþ.
1568 Christis Kirk on Grene in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 262 Thair come our kitteis weschin clene.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 378 Their harnesse was so cleane and bright.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iv. ii. 35 Let Thisby haue cleane linnen. View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) Job ix. 30 If I..make my handes neuer so cleane . View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. iii. 62 Bid them wash their Faces, And keepe their teeth cleane . View more context for this quotation
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 325 Six clean..Shirts.
1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster II. xviii. 270 What sailors call ‘clean shirt days’, viz. Sundays and Thursdays.
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits vi. 111 A Frenchman may possibly be clean; an Englishman is conscientiously clean.
1887 ‘M. Wetheral’ Two North-country Maids xxv. 174 Her pretty buff cotton gown..was clean on that morning.
1888 Times 10 Oct. 5/5 [A bloodhound] trained from a puppy to hunt ‘the clean shoe’, that is to say, follow the trail of a man whose shoes have not been prepared by the application of blood or aniseed.
b. in various specific senses; Of ships: Having the bottom free from barnacles, etc. Of whaling or fishing vessels: With no fish or oil aboard, empty; also said colloquially of an angler's basket.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel with reference to qualities or attributes > [adjective] > having clean or dirty bottom
foul1591
clean1666
society > occupation and work > industry > whaling and seal-hunting > whaling > whaling equipment > [adjective] > of whaling vessel
clean1820
1666 London Gaz. No. 58/3 In their return they gave Chace to a Caper..but the Caper being clean, escaped them.
1690 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 63 Their ships being cleaner then his, so outsail'd him.
1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 191 As we were a clean Ship we gained upon her.
1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions II. 298 No other opportunity of procuring a whale occurred..The ship returned home clean.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack vi. 28 We had a clean hold..for we had but just come to our fishing-ground.
c. Of paper: not written on, blank. Of printers' proofs: free from corrections or alterations. Of a copy of writing, etc.: free from corrections, fair. Of a document, report or the like: bearing no adverse point or remark; listing no offence; esp. in phr. clean sheet (see as main entry).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > paper > [adjective] > blank paper, not written upon
white1466
void1551
blanka1555
empty1579
fair1606
uninked1637
clean1704
society > communication > printing > printed matter > [adjective] > proof free from faults
clean1858
society > communication > writing > written text > [adjective] > of copy or writing, fair or free of corrections
fair1548
cleana1889
society > law > rule of law > [adjective] > law-abiding > with no listed offence
clean1965
1704 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion III. xiv. 439 A clean piece of Paper, sealed with three impressions of an Antick head.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Clean Proof, a slip or sheet of printed matter sent to an author from a printer.
a1889 Mod. Make a clean copy of this sheet. The proofs as returned to press were almost clean.
1932 Discovery May 153/1 The original field maps and ‘clean copies’ of them are preserved at the office.
1965 L. Sands Something to Hide v. 75 Her licence had been clean..she herself had never put through an insurance claim before.
d. Of deer or their horns: that have shed their velvet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > male > [adjective] > having antlers > covered with skin > that have shed skin
burnisheda1657
clean1838
1838 W. Scrope Art Deer-stalking i. 6 When they have shaken off this skin, which is called the velvet, and which disappears in the months of August and September, they are said to have clean horns.
1897 J. G. Millais Brit. Deer 95 Park stags are clean sometimes as early as 20th July.
1926 T. Hannan Beautiful Isle of Mull 173 The stags were not ‘clean’ any earlier than usual.
e. Of a nuclear device or weapon: producing relatively little radioactivity or fall-out.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > [adjective] > nuclear > qualities of
clean1956
low-yield1957
strategic1957
tactical1957
small-yield1959
theatre1977
INF1981
1956 in Amer. Speech (1957) 32 136 A ‘clean bomb’ —a bomb with little or no radioactive side effects.
1957 Observer 1 Sept. 3/2 If there really is a ‘clean’ bomb..then the whole deterrent power of nuclear weapons has been tragically graded down.
1959 Listener 12 Mar. 444/2 Smaller, clean, measurable nuclear effects which will revolutionize bombing and missile strategy.
f. Containing no incriminating material; not bugged. slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > [adjective] > law-abiding > containing nothing incriminating
clean1926
1926 J. Black You can't Win xii. 155 I..thought of my room and was thankful that it was ‘clean’.
1959 J. Boland Operation Red Carpet i. 8 The high-ceilinged room in which he spoke was supposed to be ‘clean’, but there was no guarantee that even here the Ministry of Internal Security, the M.V.D., might not have..planted a microphone and tape recorder.
g. Phrases (figurative): clean bill of health: see bill of health n. at bill n.3 Compounds 1; to have clean hands, to keep the hands clean: to be innocent of wrongdoing; to keep a clean tongue: to abstain from offensive or foul talk; to make a clean breast: see Phrases; to show a clean pair of heels: see show v. Phrases 1a; to make a clean job (of it): to do (something) thoroughly (colloquial); to come clean (originally U.S.): to confess, to make a clean breast of it (colloquial).
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > purity > innocence > be innocent [verb (intransitive)] > be innocent of wrongdoing
to keep the hands clean1600
to have clean hands1876
society > morality > virtue > purity > chastity > modesty or decency > be modest [verb (intransitive)] > abstain from foul talk
to keep a clean tongue1830
the world > health and disease > [noun] > good health > certificate or declaration of
patent1609
clean bill of health1854
the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > take care about [verb (transitive)] > do thoroughly
to make a clean job (of it)1892
society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > disclose or make revelations [verb (intransitive)] > reveal one's true character > confess
subscribea1616
confess to1771
own1772
admit1830
to make a clean breast of1838
fess1840
to own up1844
to spit it out1855
to make a clean breast of it1878
cough1901
to come clean1919
to spill one's guts (out)1927
tell papa1929
1600 Abp. G. Abbot Expos. Prophet Ionah 388 From which I would that our countrymen..would keepe their hands cleane.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth iv, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 108 Harry Smith had best show a clean pair of heels for it.
1830 T. P. Thompson in Westm. Rev. Oct. 521 Let them keep a clean tongue on the subject of republicanism.
1854 G. B. Richardson Univ. Code v. 963 Have you a clean bill of health?
1876 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People x. §2. 766 It was true that the hands of the Governor-General were clean.
1881 W. Besant & J. Rice Chaplain of Fleet I. xii. 256 Your husband..will show them a clean pair of heels off the Nore.
1884 T. H. Gore in Law Times 8 Nov. 29/1 He did not go into court with clean hands.
1892 ‘F. Anstey’ Voces Populi II. 50 That may be Mithras's notion of making a clean job of it, but it ain't mine!
1915 A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear ii. iii. 203 And looked with the deepest respect at the man who had the reputation for making what they called a ‘clean job’.
1919 C. H. Darling Jargon Bk. 8 Come clean, to confess everything.
1925 P. G. Wodehouse Sam the Sudden xiii. 95 You'd best come clean, Soapy, and have a showdown.
1928 Daily Express 10 Oct. 6 Spill the beans. Come clean on the whole game.
1958 Listener 2 Oct. 514/1 Why not come clean and call ‘graduated unemployment compensation’ the national dividend?
1959 J. Cary Captive & Free 28 I was wasting my time, because you kept dodging. You never come clean.
4. † b. Guiltless of a charge or accusation; innocent. Obsolete.
a. Void of spiritual or moral stain or pollution (or what is so considered); pure; undefiled, chaste, innocent. Const. †of, from.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > purity > [adjective]
cleanlyc888
unwemmedc950
clean971
lightOE
whiteOE
unfiledc1200
shire?c1225
sheenc1275
wemlessc1275
undefouled13..
undefoileda1325
purec1330
unbleckedc1380
unfouledc1380
clear1382
impollutec1384
unblemishedc1400
undefiledc1400
unspottedc1400
virginc1400
spotless?a1430
immaculate1441
uncorruptc1450
unpollushed1490
intemeratea1492
incorrupted1529
unmaculate1535
impolluted1548
crystallinec1550
incorrupt1550
uncorrupted1565
undistained1565
unstained1573
entire1587
taintless1590
untainted1590
stainless1599
unsmirched1604
intemerated1608
indepravate1609
chastea1616
uncurseda1628
undishonested1631
untaint1638
Adamical1649
sincere1649
undebaucheda1656
unaccurseda1674
amiantal1674
unsoiled1699
unpolluted1732
971 Blickl. Hom. 13 Eadige beoþ þa clænan heortan, forþon þe hie God geseoð.
c1000 Ælfric Deut. xxiii. 22 Þu byst clæne [L. absque peccato eris].
a1240 Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 193 Hore lif cleane urom alle queadschipe.
a1240 Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 195 Moder..and meiden cleane of alle laste.
c1386 G. Chaucer Wife's T. 88 We wol been holden wise and clene of synne.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1468 Goddesse of clene chastitee.
c1430 Life St. Kath. (1884) 15 An heuenly kynge þe whiche was bore of a clene virgyn.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 399 Conyng in the clene artis.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Svpper of the Lorde f. cxxxv Oure synfull bodyes may bee made cleane by his body.
1611 Bible (King James) Psalms li. 10 Create in mee a cleane heart, O God. View more context for this quotation
1842 Ld. Tennyson St. Simeon Stylites in Poems (new ed.) II. 63 I trust That I am whole, and clean, and meet for Heaven.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. vii. 161 A man of good and clean life.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > purity > innocence > [adjective] > free from guilt
unguiltyc893
sacklessa1000
freeOE
unfakenOE
guiltlessc1175
unguiltlessc1330
innocent1382
cleana1400
unsakeda1400
clearc1400
faultlessa1535
unfaulty1548
crimeless1568
untaxablea1610
innoxious1623
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4918 Ha ha, traiturs, now wel is sene Queþer þat yee be fule or clene.
1575 J. Rolland Treat. Court Venus ii. f. 29 Gif he was clene, thair schaw his Innocence.
1609 J. Skene tr. Stat. Robert I in Regiam Majestatem 33 Gif he be made quit, and cleane: all his gudes salbe restored to him.
c. the clean thing: the honest, straightforward thing. U.S.
ΚΠ
1835 D. Crockett Acct. Col. Crockett's Tour 193 I don't like it. It isn't the clean thing.
1855 T. C. Haliburton Nature & Human Nature I. iv. 100 Hang me if he can be the clean thing anyhow he can fix it.
1871 Washington Patriot 3 Apr. (De Vere) It would have been the clean thing to say at once that no debate would be allowed.
d. clean ticket n. (see quot. 1859). U.S.
ΚΠ
1848 N.Y. Weekly Tribune 10 June 4/5 I go with my friend, Mr. Van Buren, for a clean ticket.
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Clean Ticket, the entire regularly nominated ticket at an election; a ticket without any erasures. ‘He went the clean ticket on the Whig Nominations.’
1872 M. S. De Vere Americanisms 269 Only when a man adopts the whole list as made up by his party, is it called a clean or straight ticket.
e. Of writings, entertainment, etc.: free from obscenity or indelicate treatment of sexual matters; so good, clean fun: enjoyment or entertainment devoid of salacity or obscenity (frequently used ironically).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > [noun] > source of amusement or entertainment
mirtha1250
solacec1290
recreationc1400
esbatement1477
pastime1490
pastancea1500
passe-temps1542
entertainment1561
relief?1578
fancy1590
sport1598
abridgement1600
entertain1601
recreative1615
amusatory1618
nutsa1625
diverter1628
recreator1629
passatempo1632
amuser1724
fun1726
dissipation1733
resource1752
distraction1859
enlivening1859
good, clean fun1867
enlivenment1883
light relief1885
laugh1921
not one's scene1962
violon d'Ingres1963
society > morality > virtue > purity > chastity > modesty or decency > [adjective] > inoffensive to decency
moralc1390
unlascivious1592
chaste1621
modest1638
family1695
clean1867
society > leisure > entertainment > [noun]
gleea700
playeOE
gameeOE
lakec1175
skentingc1175
wil-gomenc1275
solacec1290
deduit1297
envesurec1300
playingc1300
disport1303
spilea1325
laking1340
solacingc1384
bourdc1390
mazec1390
welfarea1400
recreationc1400
solancec1400
sporta1425
sportancea1450
sportingc1475
deport1477
recreancea1500
shurting15..
ebate?1518
recreating1538
abatementc1550
pleasuring1556
comfortmenta1558
disporting1561
pastiming1574
riec1576
joyance1595
spleen1598
merriment1600
amusement1603
amusing1603
entertainment1612
spleena1616
divertisement1651
diversion1653
disportment1660
sporting of nature1666
fun1726
délassement1804
gammock1841
pleasurement1843
dallying1889
rec1922
good, clean fun1923
cracka1966
looning1966
shoppertainment1993
1867 Belgravia IV. 48 Since Sir Walter Scott's days English novels have been ‘sane, clean, and wholesome’.
1908 Westm Gaz. 26 Oct. 1/2 M. René Bazin..has..become known on this side of the Channel as the ‘cleanest’ of contemporary French novelists.
1911 E. J. Muddle's Picture Plays 10 The public..demands good, clean, wholesome pictures, to which it can take every member of its household, from the youngest upwards.
1923 Time 24 Mar. 16/1 Abounds in good, clean fun.
1929 J. B. Priestley Good Compan. ii. i. 249 He's one of the best comedians going in Concert Party work—clever, and keeps it clean.
1938 E. Hemingway Fifth Column (1939) i. iii. 25 Brought Anita around for a little spot of good clean fun.
1950 D. Gascoyne Vagrant 53 As resoundingly and full-bloodedly as you like so long as it's only in good clean working-class fun!
f. Free from suspicion of criminal or treacherous intent or involvement; not carrying incriminating material (as drugs, weapons, etc.); not a security risk. slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > [adjective] > law-abiding > free from suspicion
clean1926
1926 J. Black You can't Win xxii. 340 I was clean, there wasn't a scrap of evidence against me.
1938 ‘D. Hume’ Good-bye to Life xiii. 154 ‘If you've got anything likely to hurt folks in your pockets, Wade, I'm feeling sorry for you, because I'm going to frisk you now’. Fortunately for Wade he was ‘clean’.
1961 F. J. Rigney & L. D. Smith Real Bohemia p. xiv Clean, no drugs on person.
1969 M. Puzo Godfather i. x. 134 They'll frisk me when I meet them so I'll have to be clean then, but figure out a way you can get a weapon to me.
1979 A. Boyle Climate of Treason xi. 407 It appears probable that Philby, too, came under the balefully hostile scrutiny of the new régime in the Kremlin. Thanks to a German, Philby was eventually declared ‘clean’.
1982 A. Price Old ‘Vengeful’ 11 The point is..he's..absolutely clean. No contacts. No hint of anything.
5. † d. Gelded. Obsolete.
a. Free from ceremonial defilement, according to the Mosaic law, and similar codes.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > cleanness (ceremonial) > [adjective]
cleanlyc888
cleanc1000
pure1611
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xi. 41 Þonne beoð eow ealle þing clæne.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Num. xix. 18 In the which whanne a clene man wetith ysoop, he shal sprenge of it the tente.
1609 Bible (Douay) I. Num. xviii. 9 A man that is cleane shal gather the ashes of the cow.
1611 Bible (King James) Lev. vii. 19 As for the flesh, all that be cleane shall eate thereof. View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) Lev. xi. 37 If any part of their carkasse fall vpon any sowing seed which is to be sowen, it shalbe cleane . View more context for this quotation
b. Of beasts: Not defiling, fit to be used for food. Akin to this is the modern use, opposed to ‘foul’ as applied to fish at and immediately after spawning.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > [adjective] > fit for food (of animals)
cleanc1000
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [adjective] > fit for use
clean1870
c1000 Ælfric Genesis vii. 2 Nim into þe of eallum clænum nitenum seofen & seofen.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 627 Sacrede he ðor-on for sowles frame Ilc seuende der of clene kin.
1611 Bible (King James) Deut. xiv. 11 Of all cleane birds ye shall eate. View more context for this quotation
1870 H. C. Pennell Mod. Pract. Angler 147 Clean..Salmon fit to eat: neither just going to spawn, nor just after spawning.
1885 W. Black White Heather iii ‘Well, now, is this one all right?’ ‘A clean fish, sir,’ was the confident answer.
c. Free from the pollution of leprosy or other contagious disease.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > [adjective] > of health: good > free from disease > specific
cleanc1384
unpaining1634
unpalsied?a1656
unhypochondriacous1683
unmortified1732
ungangrened1753
uninflameda1793
uncrippleda1800
unbilified1823
unparalysed1888
uncramped1899
T.B.-tested1951
the world > health and disease > [adjective] > of health: good > conducive to health > non-infective
sweeta1325
cleanc1384
gnotobiotic1949
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. viii. 2 Lord, ȝif thou wolt, thou maist make me clene.
1611 Bible (King James) 2 Kings v. 10 Goe and wash in Iordane seuen times..and thou shalt be cleane . View more context for this quotation
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > [adjective] > castrated
cleana1642
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 3 A cleane weather is such an one as hayth had both his stones taken away.
e. Free from or cured of addiction to drugs. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > recovery > [adjective] > cured of drug addiction
clean1953
1953 L. Street I was Drug Addict xiii. 110 ‘What did you get on the other cokies?’ ‘This fellow was lousy with it,’ replied Erb... ‘The other one is clean.’
1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. Dufty Lady sings Blues xvi. 146 It was almost a year since I left that private sanatorium in New York clean.
1963 New Society 7 Nov. 9/1 Keeping 208 hypes ‘clean’ or off drugs.
1970 Times 13 Mar. 11 Only one-tenth of heroin addicts are ever completely ‘clean again’.
6. Clean in habit: usually of beasts; cleanly adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > [adjective] > desirous of or inclined to cleanness
clean1569
neat1577
cleanlya1600
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 575 He abhorred her company, as a cleane creature doth a caryon.
1683 T. Tryon Way to Health 381 Beasts that are called Clean, are such as do refuse all kind of unclean Food.
1889 N.E.D. at Clean Mod. The squirrel is a clean animal.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective] > correct
clean1528
cleanly1579
correct1676
puristical1852
puristic1854
purist1856
1528 Tyball's Conf. in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) I. App. xvii. 38 The new printed Testament in Englishe..is of more cleyner Englishe.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. xiv. sig. Gvii A more clene and elegant stile.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 77 Gydo..declaret it more clere & on clene wise.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 260 b The cleane and pure elegancy of Cicero.
1702 E. Calamy Abridgm. Baxter's Life & Times ix. 195 He..had free Conversation (in clean Latin) with the Roreign Envoys.
1705 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 28 Nov. (1885) I. 105 The Book is written in a clean stile.
1854 R. W. Emerson Poetry & Imag. in Wks. (1906) III. 158 Writing clean verses for magazines.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > deduction > [adjective] > free from deduction or remaining after deduction
clean1381
net1418
clearc1500
subtilec1503
neat1599
1381 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 46 He shal haue of þe clene katel of þe Gild xx messes songyn for his soule.
III. Fair, fine, comely, neat, clever.The sense-development is here uncertain: cf. French propre.† 9. (?) Fair, fine, ‘proper’. An epithet of admiration or commendation, the force of which it is in many instances difficult to ascertain.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > [adjective]
goodOE
winlyOE
snella1000
winc1275
boonc1325
cleana1375
tidya1375
positivea1398
comelyc1400
kindc1400
kindly?a1425
well-formeda1425
trim?a1513
wally?a1513
bonnya1525
delicatea1533
goodlike1562
sappy1563
bein1567
rum1567
benedict1576
warrantable1581
true (also good, sure) as touch1590
goodlisomea1603
respectable1603
clever1738
amusing1753
plummy1787
bone1793
brickish1843
mooi1850
ryebuck1859
spandy1868
greatisha1871
healthy1878
popular1884
beefy1903
onkus1910
quies1919
cushty1929
high-powered1969
not shabby1975
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1609 Wiþ þe clennest cumpanye þat euer king ladde.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1124 Al þe clene cumpanye com to þe place.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 163 Blyþe stones..richely rayled in his aray clene.
a1440 Sir Eglam. 452 He hath slayne syxty on a day, Welle armyd men and clene.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 427 The kyng left, with ane clene menȝhe.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 141 So gret, so gud men, and so cleyne.
1581 Compendious Exam. Certayne Ordinary Complaints i. 19 He was wonte to keepe halfe a score of cleane men in his house.
10.
a. Neatly-made, well-fashioned; not unwieldy; trim, shapely, comely. Cf. clean-limbed adj. at clean- adj. and adv. Compounds, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [adjective] > neat or trim
netc1330
pertc1330
cleanc1386
nicec1400
picked?c1425
dapperc1440
feata1471
gim1513
trig1513
well-trimmedc1513
trick1533
smirk1534
tricksy1552
neat1559
netty1573
deft1579
primpc1590
briska1593
smug1598
spruce1598
sprink1602
terse1602
compt1632
nitle1673
sprig1675
snod1691
tight1697
smugged1706
snug1714
pensy1718
fitty1746
jemmy1751
sprucy1774
smartc1778
natty1785
spry1806
perjink1808
soigné1821
nutty1823
toiletted1823
taut1829
spick and span1846
spicy1846
groomed1853
spiffy1853
well-groomed1865
bandboxy1870
perjinkity1880
spick-span1888
bandbox1916
tiddly1925
whip-smart1937
spit and polish1950
spit-and-polished1977
c1386 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Prol. 598 He hadde a paire Of legges and of feet so clene and faire.
c1430 Syr Gener. 508 The king was of making so clene, That to love him she must nede.
1645 E. Waller Wks. 74 Thy waste is streight and clean, As Cupids shaft.
1688 London Gaz. No. 2379/4 Lost..a Coach-Gelding..clean of all his Limbs.
1836 G. Stephen Adventures in Search of Horse (1841) iii. 52 The hocks and legs..have that character which the jockies describe as ‘clean’.
b. Shipbuilding. Built on fine tapering lines.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > [adjective] > of specific general shape
subtile1490
subtle1511
round1600
pinched1655
clean1709
sharp1709
hogged1760
lean1769
beamy1882
broad-beamed1883
1709 London Gaz. No. 4510/7 The Hoy Burthen 9 or 10 Tun, very full built forward, with a clean Tail.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 107 Clean, a term generally used to express the acuteness or sharpness of a ship's body.
11. Sharp (of wit), clever, smart, skilful, adroit, dexterous; neat and finished in action. (So Old High German chleini ‘sagax, versutus, argutus’.)The first two quotations may belong to 9.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > [adjective]
keena1000
nimbleOE
wittya1100
smeighc1200
understandingc1200
aperta1330
skillwisea1340
witted1377
intelligiblea1382
well-feelinga1382
knowinga1398
finec1400
large?a1425
well-knowingc1425
of understanding1428
capax1432
sententiousc1440
well-wittedc1450
intellectual?a1475
clean1485
industriousc1487
intellective1509
cleanlyc1540
ingenious?a1560
fine-headed1574
conceited1579
conceitful1594
intelligenced1596
dexter1597
ingenuous1598
intelligent1598
senseful1598
parted1600
thinking1605
dexterical1607
solert1612
apprehensivea1616
dexterous1622
solertic1623
intelligential1646
callent1656
cunning1671
thoughtful1674
perceptive1696
clever1716
uptaking1756
spiritual1807
bright1815
gnostic1819
knowledgeable1825
brainy1845
opulent1851
opening1872
super-cerebral1916
brainiac1976
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adjective] > skilful or adroit
hendc1275
happya1400
clean1485
habile1485
practivea1500
feat1519
well-handeda1529
handsome1542
trick1542
neat1571
dexterous1622
adroit1652
right-handeda1661
artful1663
nitle1673
ambidextrousa1682
clever1716
jemmy1751
slick1807
sleek1822
cleverish1826
featy1844
two-handed1861
nifty1889
mean1918
organized1926
ept1938
1485 W. Caxton tr. Paris & Vienne (1957) 2 He..helde hym self ryght clene in armes.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1496 The secund of þe suster..Cassandra was cald, clennest of wytte.
1598 F. Meres in C. M. Ingleby & L. T. Smith Shakespeare's Cent. Prayse (1879) 24 When cheating and craftines is counted the cleanest wit.
1624 P. Massinger Bond-man v. iii. sig. L4v I'le cut as cleane a caper from the Ladder, As euer merry Greeke did.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. i. 38 A clean Conceit, and as full of Wit as Devotion.
a1704 T. Brown Declam. Praise Poverty (rev. ed.) in Wks. (1730) I. 93 The legerdeman must be clean.
1857 J. G. Holland Bay-path xxvi. 332 Yes, Sir! that was a clean thing.
1884 James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Ann. ii. iii. 110 T. Bigge, a good but rather nervous bat, and sharp clean field.
IV. Clear of obstructions, or unevenness.
12. Unencumbered by anything standing or lying in the way; clear, bare, void. Of anchorage ground: Free from rocks, and the like; opposed to ‘foul’. Of timber: Free from knots.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > [adjective] > unobstructed
openeOE
roomOE
cleanc1405
clear1569
rid1866
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [adjective] > free from knots
clean1626
clear1642
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Franklin's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 287 Whan ye han maad the coost so clene Of Rokkes that ther nys no stoon ysene.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xiii. 443 The feld so cleyn wes maid Of ynglis men, that nane abad.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §658 The Timber and Wood are, in some Trees, more Cleane, in some more Knottie.
1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 196 There is Water enough, and a clean Bottom.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §262 To drop an anchor as soon as we got into clean ground.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Clean, free from danger, as clean coast, clean harbour.
1884 Western Morning News 30 Aug. 1/5 The oak is..clean, and very hearty.
13.
a. Clear of inequalities or unevennesses, clean-cut.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > smoothness > [adjective] > having smooth contours
clean1680
unangular1757
clean-cut1842
streamline1907
streamlined1934
the world > health and disease > [adjective] > of health: good > healthy > of specific parts
unfootsore?a1500
whole-chested1576
well-blooded1615
regular1694
clean1733
peptic1827
eupeptic1831
competent1881
1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xii. 211 If you have not at first brought your Work clean; that is..gone deep enough with your Gouge to take off all the Risings of the Stuff the Draw-knife left.
1733 G. Cheyne Eng. Malady i. xi. 99 The Strokes of such a Pulse are seldom clean and free.
1807 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 17 188 A clean wound, in the fore arm.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. iv. 34 The clean abrupt edge of the fractures.
1871 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (ed. 6) I. xii. 367 No slate ever exhibited so clean a cleavage.
b. Unfeathered: said of pigeons which have no feathers on the legs or feet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [adjective] > of or belonging to pigeon and dove > of parts of
damask-coloured1630
clean1886
pin-winged1890
gravel-eyed1951
1886 G. Ure Our Fancy Pigeons viii. 201 All the best performing tumblers that I have ever seen had clean legs.
1961 W. H. Allen How to raise Pigeons iii. 42 There are two main types, classified as clean-legged and ruffled (with feathers on legs and feet).
c. Of aircraft: designed to minimize obstructions to the airflow, streamlined. Cf. cleanness n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > qualities and parameters of aircraft > [adjective] > streamlined
clean1916
faired2000
1916 H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 27 A brand new, rakish, up-to-date machine it is..perfectly ‘streamlined’ to minimise drift... ‘Clean looking 'bus... Ought to have a turn of speed with those lines.’
1939 Flight 14 Dec. p. g/1 It [sc. the speed] is certainly not obtained by aerodynamic cleanness. No one would call the Messerschmitt a clean aircraft.
1961 Engineering 20 Jan. 123/1 The clean-wing (aft-engine) de Havilland Trident..due to fly this year.
V. With nouns of action, etc.
14. Where nothing is left behind; entire, complete, total, perfect, sheer. (Influenced by the adverb; with ‘a clean sweep’ cf. to sweep clean at sweep v. 13.) In early use, esp. in alliterative verse, often used vaguely. (See also sweep n. 1a.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > utter or absolute
shirea1225
purec1300
properc1380
plainc1395
cleana1400
fine?a1400
entirec1400
veryc1400
starka1425
utterc1430
utterlyc1440
merec1443
absolute1531
outright1532
cleara1535
bloodyc1540
unproachable1544
flat1553
downright1577
sheer1583
right-down?1586
single1590
peremptory1601
perfecta1616
downa1625
implicit1625
every way1628
blank1637
out-and-outa1642
errant1644
inaccessional1651
thorough-paced1651
even down1654
dead1660
double-dyed1667
through stitch1681
through-stitched1682
total1702
thoroughgoing1719
thorough-sped1730
regular1740
plumb1748
hollow1751
unextenuated1765
unmitigated1783
stick, stock, stone dead1796
positive1802
rank1809
heart-whole1823
skire1825
solid1830
fair1835
teetotal1840
bodacious1845
raw1856
literal1857
resounding1873
roaring1884
all out1893
fucking1893
pink1896
twenty-four carat1900
grand slam1915
stone1928
diabolical1933
fricking1937
righteous1940
fecking1952
raving1954
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 25529 Giue us clene scrift at hald.
a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) iii. f. CCxxviiv Make clene confessyon.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. viii. sig. Dijv With wonderfull strength and clene might.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 2801 The Kyng..declarit all his clene wille.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 10441 Schuld haue killit þis kyng with his clen strenkith.
1611 Bible (King James) Lev. xxiii. 22 When ye reape the haruest..thou shalt not make cleane riddance of the corners of the field. View more context for this quotation
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Nettoyer au balay, to make cleane work, to sweepe all away.
1868 J. H. Blunt Reformation Church of Eng. I. 318 The clean sweep which had been made of so many ancient rights.
Phrases
clean breast: a pure or untroubled heart, a clear conscience. Chiefly in to make a clean breast of: to unburden oneself by making a full disclosure or confession of (something, esp. one's mistakes or wrongdoings); to confess fully; also to make a clean breast of it in the same sense.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > disclose or make revelations [verb (intransitive)] > reveal one's true character > confess
subscribea1616
confess to1771
own1772
admit1830
to make a clean breast of1838
fess1840
to own up1844
to spit it out1855
to make a clean breast of it1878
cough1901
to come clean1919
to spill one's guts (out)1927
tell papa1929
OE Hymns (Julius A.vi) lxii. 17 in H. Gneuss Hymnar u. Hymnen im englischen Mittelalter (1968) 343 Prebe ut resistat nostra fides vitiis atque ministret studiis virtutum puro pectore : getyða þæt wiðstande ure geleafa leahtrum & þæt he þenige gecneordnyssum mihta on clænum breoste.
1671 E. Wettenhall Two Disc. Christian Piety & Devotion i. v. 224 The pleasure of devotion, and a clean breast kept thereby, will sweetly constrain us to a strict observance of it.
1753 Extracts Trial J. Stewart in Scots Mag. Oct. 508/1 He pressed him..to make a clean breast, and tell him all.
1838 J. W. Carlyle Lett. I. 96 I would have..made a clean breast of all my thinkings and doings.
1857 Examiner 1 Aug. 483/2 Sir Thomas Redington must show that his hands are clean, or, we should rather say, that he has a clean breast, unadorned with Mr Smith's buttons.
1878 W. Black Green Pastures xxiii. 184 I may as well make a clean breast of it.
1933 ‘N. West’ Miss Lonelyhearts 83 It's better to make a clean breast of matters than to let them fester in the depths of one's soul.
2017 @studioexec1 29 Nov. in twitter.com (accessed 21 Oct. 2019) Come forward, make a clean breast of it, apologize BEFORE any accusations surface.
Compounds
See clean- adj. and adv.
Draft additions December 2002
clean room n. a room or enclosure in which dust, microorganisms, and other contaminants are eliminated or reduced to very low levels, esp. for the purpose of manufacturing electronic components and some types of medical equipment.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > [noun] > an enclosed space or place > compartment or chamber > having a function
cella1398
clean room1961
1961 Science 21 July 227 Airborne particle monitor is modified by the addition of an air-dilution system to cover the range from clean-room atmospheres to the most polluted industrial smogs.
1980 Sci. Amer. Aug. 117/3 The disks and the head assemblies in such a memory are sealed in a small ‘clean room’: a chamber approximately the size of a hatbox, in which the air is continuously recirculated and filtered to exclude any dust particles larger than ·3 micrometer in diameter.
1999 Global Ceramic Rev. Autumn 18/2 Dare referred to their design of medical cleanroom TRMs and calender units.., manufactured without any projections which could act as contamination traps.
Draft additions October 2021
Of a fuel, source of energy, technology, etc.: (originally) producing few air pollutants; (in later use also, and now chiefly) producing relatively few or no net emissions of greenhouse gases.
ΚΠ
1852 Sci. Amer. 24 Jan. 148/4 Every mechanic in Manchester and Glasgow has his domicile lighted with cheap, convenient, and clean gas light.
1925 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 128 132/2 The public is increasingly utilizing efficient and clean fuel gas.
1972 Sci. Amer. 24 Jan. 15/2 Our answer is to remove the sulfur from the coal before burning it. The result: clean coal and a clean environment.
1988 Equinox (Camden East, Ont.) Nov. 38/4 Canada's first commercial wind farm..is the latest initiative in the age-old quest to harness the wind as a clean and free source of energy.
2020 Providence (Rhode Island) Jrnl. (Nexis) 19 Sept. a19 We can address the consequences of climate change with..urgency and conviction. Now is the time to lean in and move the clean energy transition forward.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
cleanv.
/kliːn/, U.S. /klin/ To make clean.
1.
a. transitive. To free from dirt, filth, or impurity.
ΘΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > clean [verb (transitive)]
yclense971
cleansea1000
farmOE
fayc1220
fowc1350
absterse?a1425
mundify?a1425
muck1429
to cast clean1522
absterge1526
sprinkle1526
reconcile1535
net1536
clengec1540
neat?1575
snuff?1575
rinse1595
deterge1623
scavengea1644
scavenger1645
decrott1653
reform1675
clean1681
deterse1684
fluxa1763
to clean away, offa1839
to clean down1839
scavage1851
untaint1855
to sand and canvas1912
1681 London Gaz. No. 1666/2 The English Frigats are now so well Fitted and Cleaned, that none of the Algerines they meet with, escape them.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World vi. 138 We scrubb'd and clean'd our Men of War.
1716 J. Gay Trivia i. 3 Clean your Shoes.
1800 tr. E. J. B. Bouillon-Lagrange Man. Course Chem. II. 395 A method of cleaning linen..stained by preparations of mercury.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps ii. §7. 259 The portrait..was given to a painter to be cleaned.
1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues II. 566 A sponge..to clean the mirror.
b. Said, by servants or operatives employed in dirty or dusty work, of making themselves clean and tidy in the afternoon or evening.
ΘΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning or cleanliness of the person > clean the person [verb (transitive)] > clean oneself after work
clean1876
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning or cleanliness of the person > clean the person [verb (reflexive)] > clean oneself after work
clean1876
1876 M. E. Braddon Joshua Haggard's Daughter I. ix. 285 That afternoon toilet which was known throughout Penmoyle as ‘cleaning oneself’.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (at cited word) Come, Mary, get cleaned; its just tea-time.
1889 Newspr. She (the servant) had gone up stairs to clean herself.
c. Often in specific (contextual) senses: e.g. to clear arable land of weeds, esp. of the roots of creeping plants; to clear a ship's bottom of barnacles, shells, seaweeds, and other accretions; to remove from fish, or the like, the parts unfit for food; also reflexive of foul fish, to regain good condition after spawning.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > reclamation > reclaim [verb (transitive)] > clear land > weed land
louka1000
weeda1325
cleanc1450
spud1652
swinglea1825
couch1846
twitch1886
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > build a ship [verb (transitive)] > fit out or equip > clean and coat ship's bottom
grave1461
clean1697
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > preparation of meat > dress animals for food [verb (transitive)] > disembowel or clean
scour1412
void1535
scald1565
paunch1570
hulk1622
viscerate1727
porge1773
clean1841
gralloch1848
the world > animals > fish > [verb (reflexive)] > regain good condition after spawning
clean1867
c1450 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 609 Sarrio, to clene, cutte, or wede.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xvi. 443 To hale our Ship ashore, to clean her bottom.
1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 49 This Day..we also clean'd our Ship's Bottom..in order to her better sailing.
1841 E. W. Lane tr. Thousand & One Nights I. 100 The Maid took the fish, and cleaned them.
1853 A. Soyer Pantropheon 187 Clean and salt a wild boar.
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling i. 31 About June the chub get upon the shallows to clean themselves.
1886 Law Times 151/2 Land ploughed and cleaned for sowing barley.
d. to clean the board (colloquial): to clear off all that it contains, and leave it empty; to clear it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > leave unoccupied [verb (transitive)] > clear out
rede1450
banisha1513
to clear out1850
to clean the board1884
1884 Harper's Mag. Jan. 299/2 When a man cleaned the board he had something to be proud of.
e. slang. = 4b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > perpetrate (a swindle) [verb (transitive)] > defraud or swindle
defraud1362
deceivec1380
plucka1500
lurch1530
defeata1538
souse1545
lick1548
wipe1549
fraud1563
use1564
cozen1573
nick1576
verse1591
rooka1595
trim1600
skelder1602
firk1604
dry-shave1620
fiddle1630
nose1637
foista1640
doa1642
sharka1650
chouse1654
burn1655
bilk1672
under-enter1692
sharp1699
stick1699
finger1709
roguea1714
fling1749
swindle1773
jink1777
queer1778
to do over1781
jump1789
mace1790
chisel1808
slang1812
bucket1819
to clean out1819
give it1819
to put in the hole1819
ramp1819
sting1819
victimize1839
financier1840
gum1840
snakea1861
to take down1865
verneuk1871
bunco1875
rush1875
gyp1879
salt1882
daddle1883
work1884
to have (one) on toast1886
slip1890
to do (a person) in the eye1891
sugar1892
flay1893
to give (someone) the rinky-dink1895
con1896
pad1897
screw1900
short-change1903
to do in1906
window dress1913
ream1914
twist1914
clean1915
rim1918
tweedle1925
hype1926
clip1927
take1927
gazump1928
yentz1930
promote1931
to take (someone) to the cleaners1932
to carve up1933
chizz1948
stiff1950
scam1963
to rip off1969
to stitch up1970
skunk1971
to steal (someone) blind1974
diddle-
1915 L. E. Jackson & C. R. Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 24 Clean, to take all one possesses of a given commodity; to deplete one's assets. Example: ‘He headed in wrong with that bunch and got cleaned.’
1926 J. Black You can't Win iv. 27 The poker players..who brought their victims into the back room to ‘clean’ them.
1950 A. Lomax Mister Jelly Roll (1952) ii. 54 If they didn't clean this sucker by legitimate cheating, one of the tough guys would take his money anyhow.
f. To ‘clean’ (an aeroplane) aerodynamically, to make streamlined. Also with up. So cleaning-up n. Cf. clean adj. 13c.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > construction and servicing aircraft or spacecraft > [noun] > making streamlined
cleaning-up1922
fairing1927
streamlining1936
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > construction and servicing aircraft or spacecraft > construct and service aircraft or spacecraft [verb (transitive)] > make streamlined
streamline1918
clean1922
fair1934
laminarize1961
1922 Flight 14 702/2 The ‘cleaning-up’ of the latest model has resulted in an astonishing gain in maximum speed.
1931 Flight 16 Jan. 61 The Short ‘Singapore’ Mark II has been cleaned up by placing the four Rolls-Royce ‘F’ engines in tandem, and by abolishing the chine struts.
1931 Flight 16 Oct. 1033/1 This new aircraft has been cleaned cleaner than any Armstrong-Whitworth aircraft we have seen.
2.
a. absol., and intransitive (for reflexive).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > clean [verb (intransitive)]
abstergify1612
exterge1657
clean1708
to clean up1886
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [verb (intransitive)] > have bottom cleaned
clean1708
1708 London Gaz. No. 4431/15 The same Day came in..Her Majesty's Ships..to clean.
1748 J. Lind Lett. Navy (1757) iii. 123 Our fleets may winter there, clean and repair.
1880 W. MacCormac Antiseptic Surg. 113 The wound had in the first place to ‘clean’, and this cleaning was necessitated by the death of a superficial layer of tissue.
b. Nautical. To change into an appropriate uniform, to don a uniform prescribed for any set duty. colloquial.
ΚΠ
1915 ‘Bartimeus’ Tall Ship iii. 48 The Captain had ‘cleaned’ already.
1916 G. Franklin Naval Digression i. ix. 70 We..perform that seemingly impossible feat of ‘cleaning’ into a dirty rig.
3.
a. transitive. to clean down: to clean from top to bottom, or by sweeping down. to clean up: to clean by taking up dirt or dust; to bring (a thing) up to a certain pitch or standard of cleanness; (also) to obtain by cleaning, to acquire as gain or profit; (also) to deal with effectively, to get the better of: see also sense 6 and clean n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > clean [verb (transitive)]
yclense971
cleansea1000
farmOE
fayc1220
fowc1350
absterse?a1425
mundify?a1425
muck1429
to cast clean1522
absterge1526
sprinkle1526
reconcile1535
net1536
clengec1540
neat?1575
snuff?1575
rinse1595
deterge1623
scavengea1644
scavenger1645
decrott1653
reform1675
clean1681
deterse1684
fluxa1763
to clean away, offa1839
to clean down1839
scavage1851
untaint1855
to sand and canvas1912
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > clean [verb (transitive)] > to certain standard
to clean up1839
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > reclamation > reclaim [verb (transitive)] > clear land
redeeOE
ridlOE
grubc1374
stub1464
clot1483
shrub1553
clear1634
cure1719
stump1796
spade1819
slash1821
underbrush1824
to clean up1839
underbush1886
screef1913
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (intransitive)] > collect together valuable product
to clean up1872
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > clean [verb (intransitive)]
abstergify1612
exterge1657
clean1708
to clean up1886
1839 in J. S. Bassett Plantation Overseer (1925) 117 I have got my cotton land the half of it cleaned up.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre III. viii. 183 My first aim will be..to clean down Moor-House from chamber to cellar.
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It xxxvi. 255 The machinery was stopped and we ‘cleaned up’. That is to say, we..washed the mud patiently away till nothing was left but the long accumulating mass of quicksilver.
1886 W. Besant Children of Gibeon I. ii. i. 243 For thirty years..not even admitting a woman to clean up.
b. transitive. With up. To make a clean sweep of.
Π
1903 Westm. Gaz. 31 Jan. 8/1 The seals clean up the seas much as the rabbits clean up the grass in Australia and the locusts clean up the crops in Africa.
4. to clean out:
a. To clean by emptying; hence transferred to empty, exhaust, leave bare. Also figurative.
ΘΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > clean [verb (transitive)] > by emptying
to clean out1844
to muck out1851
the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > leave unoccupied [verb (transitive)] > empty > empty or exhaust
draw1483
rinse1575
sponge1610
clear1699
bottom1808
to clean out1844
deplete1850
deplenish1859
1844 W. H. Maxwell Wanderings in Highlands & Islands I. ix. 177 The larder was utterly cleaned out.
1858 O. W. Holmes Autocrat of Breakfast-table iii. 67 There is a great danger that a man's first life-story shall clean him out, so to speak, of his best thoughts.
1866 T. Carlyle Inaug. Addr. Edinb. 180 You will see how we may clean-out the foul things in that Chancery Court.
1887 Scotsman 19 Mar. The obligation to clean out the canal.
b. slang. To deprive of cash, to ‘rook’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > perpetrate (a swindle) [verb (transitive)] > defraud or swindle
defraud1362
deceivec1380
plucka1500
lurch1530
defeata1538
souse1545
lick1548
wipe1549
fraud1563
use1564
cozen1573
nick1576
verse1591
rooka1595
trim1600
skelder1602
firk1604
dry-shave1620
fiddle1630
nose1637
foista1640
doa1642
sharka1650
chouse1654
burn1655
bilk1672
under-enter1692
sharp1699
stick1699
finger1709
roguea1714
fling1749
swindle1773
jink1777
queer1778
to do over1781
jump1789
mace1790
chisel1808
slang1812
bucket1819
to clean out1819
give it1819
to put in the hole1819
ramp1819
sting1819
victimize1839
financier1840
gum1840
snakea1861
to take down1865
verneuk1871
bunco1875
rush1875
gyp1879
salt1882
daddle1883
work1884
to have (one) on toast1886
slip1890
to do (a person) in the eye1891
sugar1892
flay1893
to give (someone) the rinky-dink1895
con1896
pad1897
screw1900
short-change1903
to do in1906
window dress1913
ream1914
twist1914
clean1915
rim1918
tweedle1925
hype1926
clip1927
take1927
gazump1928
yentz1930
promote1931
to take (someone) to the cleaners1932
to carve up1933
chizz1948
stiff1950
scam1963
to rip off1969
to stitch up1970
skunk1971
to steal (someone) blind1974
diddle-
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 163 Cleaned out, said of a gambler who has lost his last stake at play; also, of a flat who has been stript of all his money.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist III. xxxviii. 38 He has cleaned me out; but I can go and earn some more.
a1861 T. Winthrop John Brent i. 7 They had been burnt out, they had been cleaned out, they had been drowned out.
1901 S. E. White Westerners xiii. 94 Bunco men can clean him out in a gambling joint.
c. To defeat or deal effectively with (a person); to eject from a place. U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > overcome or defeat
shendc893
overwinOE
overheaveOE
mate?c1225
to say checkmatea1346
vanquishc1366
stightlea1375
outrayc1390
to put undera1393
forbeat1393
to shave (a person's) beardc1412
to put to (also at, unto) the (also one's) worsec1425
adawc1440
supprisec1440
to knock downc1450
to put to the worsta1475
waurc1475
convanquish1483
to put out1485
trima1529
convince1548
foil1548
whip1571
evict1596
superate1598
reduce1605
convict1607
defail1608
cast1610
banga1616
evince1620
worst1646
conquer1655
cuffa1657
trounce1657
to ride down1670
outdo1677
routa1704
lurcha1716
fling1790
bowl1793
lick1800
beat1801
mill1810
to row (someone) up Salt River1828
defeat1830
sack1830
skunk1832
whop1836
pip1838
throw1850
to clean out1858
take1864
wallop1865
to sock it to1877
whack1877
to clean up1888
to beat out1893
to see off1919
to lower the boom on1920
tonk1926
clobber1944
ace1950
to run into the ground1955
1858 in Kansas Hist. Coll. XIV. 99 I could clean you out quicker than greased lightning would pass a funeral.
1863 Harper's Mag. Sept. 569/2 ‘All right,’ says Rhind; ‘fire, boys!’ and in a very short time that ambush was ‘cleaned out’.
1871 Congress. Globe 5 Jan. 316/1 The enemy did take possession of the house one day. They were ‘cleaned out’ as we say; they were compelled to leave the house.
1892 J. L. Ford Dr. Dodd's School i. 10 He could lick the whole crowd of them with one hand tied behind his back. Do you remember how he cleaned out the townies that Saturday afternoon?
1908 S. E. White Riverman xxii. 197 I don't bet those Saginaw river-pigs are any more two-fisted than the boys on this river. I'd go up and clean 'em out.
d. To clear (a place) of the persons occupying it. U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > leave unoccupied [verb (transitive)] > make unoccupied
wanec1200
evacuate1607
untenant1640
vacant1649
unstock1655
disnesta1700
to clean out1858
distenant1876
1858 in Kansas Hist. Coll. (1896) V. 567 These same men attacked Barnesville..and literally cleaned it out, both of inhabitants and property.
1870–9 B. Harte Society Stanislaus 20 On several occasions he had cleaned out the town.
1883 G. W. Peck Peck's Bad Boy No. 2. 29 Pa got mad and said he could clean out the whole shebang.
1901 M. E. Ryan That Girl Montana vii. 97 They..would proceed to ‘clean out’ any establishment where their own peculiar set was ignored.
1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail vi. 48 Nothing pleases him better than..to embark on an earnest effort to ‘clean out’ a rival town.
5. to clean away, off: to remove dirt, defilement, or the like; also in extended use.
ΘΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > clean [verb (transitive)]
yclense971
cleansea1000
farmOE
fayc1220
fowc1350
absterse?a1425
mundify?a1425
muck1429
to cast clean1522
absterge1526
sprinkle1526
reconcile1535
net1536
clengec1540
neat?1575
snuff?1575
rinse1595
deterge1623
scavengea1644
scavenger1645
decrott1653
reform1675
clean1681
deterse1684
fluxa1763
to clean away, offa1839
to clean down1839
scavage1851
untaint1855
to sand and canvas1912
a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) II. 3 A thousand hands..Clean off each ancient stain or soil.
1910 O. Johnson Varmint iv. 58 You know you said you were going to clean off the whole slate with Al.
6. to clean up (see also sense 3a). Various colloquial and slang uses (chiefly U.S.):
a. transitive. To obtain, acquire as gain or profit.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > get or make money [verb (transitive)] > be profitable to > make in profit
winc1175
gain1530
advantage1557
lucre1570
superlucrate1652
cleara1719
realize1720
net1765
to clean up1831
mop1861
gross1884
to cash in1904
1831 J. M. Peck Guide for Emigrants 147 He gave a friend one measured acre..and cleaned up thirty-five bushels and eight quarts [of wheat].
1904 ‘O. Henry’ Cabbages & Kings vi. 104 So, this man I was speaking of cleaned up $288; and then he went away.
1906 C. de L. Canfield Diary of Forty-niner (1920) 51 I hope to clean up about ten thousand dollars.
1929 [see sense 6e]. 1931 L. A. G. Strong Garden xxx. 278 He had seen them clean up all three places in the Open Quarter; he had seen them, individually, win a score of races.
1960 20th Cent. Dec. 555 A concerted drive to ensure that this 25-year-old veteran cleans up another £16 million.
b. transitive. To beat, vanquish; spec. in gambling, to make a large profit from, to take all the money from.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > overcome or defeat
shendc893
overwinOE
overheaveOE
mate?c1225
to say checkmatea1346
vanquishc1366
stightlea1375
outrayc1390
to put undera1393
forbeat1393
to shave (a person's) beardc1412
to put to (also at, unto) the (also one's) worsec1425
adawc1440
supprisec1440
to knock downc1450
to put to the worsta1475
waurc1475
convanquish1483
to put out1485
trima1529
convince1548
foil1548
whip1571
evict1596
superate1598
reduce1605
convict1607
defail1608
cast1610
banga1616
evince1620
worst1646
conquer1655
cuffa1657
trounce1657
to ride down1670
outdo1677
routa1704
lurcha1716
fling1790
bowl1793
lick1800
beat1801
mill1810
to row (someone) up Salt River1828
defeat1830
sack1830
skunk1832
whop1836
pip1838
throw1850
to clean out1858
take1864
wallop1865
to sock it to1877
whack1877
to clean up1888
to beat out1893
to see off1919
to lower the boom on1920
tonk1926
clobber1944
ace1950
to run into the ground1955
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > gamble at a game [verb (transitive)] > make large profit from
skin1819
to clean up1888
1888 P. H. Sheridan Personal Mem. I. 47 The citizens..intended cleaning up the hostiles.
1932 J. Dos Passos 1919 43 They..shot some pool and Joe was pretty good and cleaned up the local boys.
1932 J. T. Farrell Young Lonigan vi. 279 He pretended that he had cleaned up all the tough guys on Fifty-eighth Street.
1949 N.Z. Free Lance 24 Aug. 10 You jokers cleaned us up at footie.
c. transitive. To clear (a place, etc.) of harmful or immoral influences, elements, or persons; to rid (an area) of remaining pockets of enemy resistance. So cleaning-up n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > victory > [noun] > complete ridding of resistance
mop-up1900
mopping-up1909
cleaning-up1916
clean-up1930
society > morality > virtue > purity > make pure [verb (transitive)] > remove immoral elements from
to clean up1916
society > morality > virtue > purity > [noun] > moral purification > removing immoral elements
cleaning-up1916
clean-up1930
society > armed hostility > victory > make victorious [verb (transitive)] > completely rid of resistance
mop1901
to clean up1942
1916 W. A. Du Puy Uncle Sam 170 The cleaning up of the customs scandals in the port of New York was a most complicated task.
1925 C. E. Mulford Cottonwood Gulch 188 Our friend Dangerfield [the sheriff] will clean up this cursed country like a new broom.
1929 Times 15 Feb. More than 3,000 persons were arrested..by the Chicago police in a new effort to ‘clean up’ the city.
1930 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 May 359/1 American troops engaged in ‘cleaning up’ that distressful republic.
1942 P. Jordan Diary 29 Nov. (1943) 64 British parachutists have been dropped..at Depienne, where they are to clean up an airfield.
1943 Ann. Reg. 1942 128 After North Africa had been ‘cleaned up’, Parliament would be asked to approve a proposal that troops of the Union should serve outside Africa.
1967 G. Freeman Undergrowth of Lit. xi. 163 A political broadsheet published in California in 1966 calling for the banning of pornography had, as one of the arguments in favour of legally ‘cleaning up’ the state, [etc.].
d. transitive. To strip or empty the contents of.
ΚΠ
1917 P. G. Wodehouse Uneasy Money xv. 169 Then the man comes down for a visit and goes about cleaning up the neighbouring houses.
e. intransitive. To make a large profit.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > get or make money [verb (intransitive)] > make profit > make large profit
to clean up1929
1929 D. Hammett Red Harvest xii. 119 You thought..you could clean up a little dough playing him?.. Did you clean up?
1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? i. 11 I mean profit. That show must be cleaning up.
1947 J. Steinbeck Wayward Bus 36 It's the fastest-selling novelty I've ever handled. Little Wonder is cleaning up with it.
Draft additions 1997
transitive. Weightlifting. To lift (a weight attached to a bar-bell) from the floor to shoulder height in a single movement: usually the first part of an overhead lift. Frequently in phrases to clean and jerk (or press). Cf. clean n. Additions 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > athletics > contend in athletics [verb (transitive)] > lift
jerk1891
clean1936
1936 Health & Strength 26 Sept. 455/3 I can jerk 180 lb to arms' length from the shoulders but cannot ‘clean’ more than 154 lb.
1956 Muscle Power Mar. 46/3 To equal Eder's press Paul would have to clean and press 482 pounds.
1956 Strength & Health Nov. 17/2 The Russian is here seen cleaning a formidable 391-lb. weight.
1957 Muscle Power Jan. 48/3 In a meet in which most of Russia's famous lifters took part against an Egyptian team, he pressed 248, snatched 270 and cleaned and jerked 319½.
1988 Strength Athlete Oct.–Nov. 7/1 After someone had been trying to bench press 260lbs Louis strode over and clean and pressed the weight (on an exercise bar) with ease.
1990 D. Ackerman Nat. Hist. Senses ii. 102 The human body is miraculous and beautiful, whether it can ‘clean and jerk’ three hundred pounds, swim the English Channel, or survive a year riding the subway.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
cleanadv.
/kliːn/, U.S. /klin/ I. Of manner: in a ‘clean’ manner.In many instances, this may be analysed as an adj. standing as complement of the predicate, and referring to a n. expressed or understood: e.g. clean purged, purged so as to be clean, etc.† 1. Clearly, brightly. Obsolete.† 4. (?) Properly, completely. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > intensity of light > [adverb] > brightly
brighteOE
lightOE
shireOE
fairOE
brightlyOE
sheen?c1225
shirelyc1230
sheenly1340
clearlya1375
shininglyc1384
clearc1385
cleana1400
shrillc1400
enclerea1440
lucidentlyc1508
sheerly1508
splendently1576
shiny1596
nitently1657
a1400–50 Alexander 55 A Boll of bras burneschid full clene.
c1420 Anturs of Arth. xxix Her countur-felit, and hur kelle were colurt ful clene.
2. In a manner free from dirt; or so as to leave no dirt, refuse, or obstructions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > [adverb]
cleanc1000
cleanlyc1200
spotlesslya1671
cleanlily1698
innocently1715
specklessly1862
c1000 Ælfric Leviticus xxiii. 22 Ne ripe ge to clæne.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xviii. 213 The feld was clengit cleyne.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. xxvii. 40 Clene confessed and repentaunt.
?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye i. sig. b6 One that were clene purged of his witte.
1614 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husbandry (1668) i. i. 5 Stroak his neck and body clean over, leaving no sweat nor filth.
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1954) VII. 335 A man walks cleane, if in a foule way, he contract but a few spots of dirt.
1889 N.E.D. at Clean Mod. The room must be clean swept.
3. Cleverly, neatly, dexterously; ‘without miscarriage’ (Johnson).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adverb] > skilfully or adroitly
slylyc1275
sly1370
featly1436
addresslya1500
sleightly?c1510
clean1531
trickly1542
neatlya1547
trick1564
cleanly1583
cleverly1654
clever1664
adroitly1695
adeptly1804
slick1825
shrewdly1851
cleverishly1881
slickly1893
niftily1901
eptly1974
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. xvii. sig. Jiijv The moste honorable exercise..is to ryde suerly and clene.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 179 Howe to..sing cleane, expressing their wordes with deuotion and passion.
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. iv. 36 To helpe to write cleane, fast and faire together.
1781 S. Johnson Broome in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets VIII. 12 Pope came off clean with Homer.
1865 tr. L. Spohr Autobiogr. i. 42 Tietz played the secondo..without faltering and perfectly clean.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb] > completely or thoroughly
welleOE
furtherlyc1175
through and through?1316
perfectlya1400
radically?a1425
roundly?a1425
substantiallya1425
perfectc1425
thoroughly1442
substantiallyc1449
throughlya1450
naitlyc1450
through1472
surely?a1475
cleanc1475
through stitch1573
fundamentally1587
down1616
perfectedly1692
minutely1796
homea1825
good1834
rotten1840
out1971
full on1979
c1475 (?c1425) Avowing of King Arthur (1984) l. 598 He is.. clene clad in stele.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lviii. 197 Gerames yssued out clene armed.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 477 Came to the Dolphyns presence, which was cleane armed.
II. Of degree.† 6. In this sense it was often strengthened by other words, as all clean, clean and low, quite and clean. Obsolete (or dialect)
5. Without anything omitted or left; without any exception that may vitiate the statement, without qualification; wholly, entirely, quite, absolutely.This sense naturally arose from the consideration that when a substance is taken entirely out of any vessel, etc., without leaving a particle behind, the vessel is left clean, and its cleanness is a measure of the completeness of the removal. Hence clean was naturally used with all verbs of taking, driving, or going away, of losing, and thence of finishing up, completing, or performing any action.
a. with verbs of removal, and the like. (The use of adverbs or prepositional phrases qualifying the verb introduces const. c.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb] > fully or to full extent or in full > with no exceptions > without omission or qualification
cleana1000
cleanlyc1050
a1000 Cod. Dipl. I. 311 Ðæt min cynn clæne [MS. clane] gewite.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 7 Þei chaced out þe Bretons so clene.
c1386 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 618 Al his loue is clene fro me ago.
c1420 Chron. Vilod. 800 His syȝt was clene ytake hym fro.
1555 J. Heywood Two Hundred Epigrammes with Thyrde sig. B.vii When mery drynkers drynke of cleane.
1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 11 Somtyme is the hearing lost clene.
1611 Bible (King James) Josh. iii. 17 Vntill all the people were passed cleane ouer Iordan. View more context for this quotation
1629 Vse of Law 33 in J. Doddridge Lawyers Light The heire is cleane discharged of the Burthen.
1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 286 One of our great Shot..carried one of his Legs clean off.
1853 G. Brimley Ess. (1858) vii. 280 The purpose of the book seems clean gone out of the writer's mind.
1883 ‘G. Lloyd’ Ebb & Flow II. xxi. 22 I believe he's gone clean off his head.
b. with other verbs.
ΚΠ
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 3537 Clene þanne þay turnde hure mod.
c1420 Anturs of Arth. xl And cleuet his schild clene.
1547 Certain Serm. or Homilies Falling from God ii, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) i. 86 They shall clean overgrow us.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i.i. sig. B2 All cleane dismayd to see so vncouth sight.
a1604 M. Hanmer Chron. Ireland 121 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) Vanquished and cleane overthrowne.
1849 A. H. Clough Poems & Prose Remains (1869) II. 15 Food which..may be clean-denied me e'en to-day.
1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset II. lxiv. 218 Perhaps you didn't know that he was clean ruined?
c. with prepositions and adverbs, as against, without, beside, away, from, through, out, over, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > utterly
allOE
allOE
outlyOE
thwert-outc1175
skerea1225
thoroughc1225
downrightc1275
purec1300
purelyc1300
faira1325
finelyc1330
quitec1330
quitelyc1330
utterlyc1374
outerlya1382
plainlya1382
straighta1387
allutterly1389
starkc1390
oultrelya1393
plata1393
barec1400
outrightc1400
incomparablyc1422
absolutely?a1425
simpliciter?a1425
staringa1425
quitementa1450
properlyc1450
directly1455
merec1475
incomparable1482
preciselyc1503
clean?1515
cleara1522
plain1535
merely1546
stark1553
perfectly1555
right-down1566
simply1574
flat1577
flatly1577
skire1581
plumb1588
dead?1589
rankly1590
stark1593
sheera1600
start1599
handsmooth1600
peremptory1601
sheerly1601
rank1602
utter1619
point-blank1624
proofa1625
peremptorily1626
downrightly1632
right-down1646
solid1651
clever1664
just1668
hollow1671
entirely1673
blank1677
even down1677
cleverly1696
uncomparatively1702
subtly1733
point1762
cussed1779
regularly1789
unqualifiedly1789
irredeemably1790
positively1800
cussedly1802
heart1812
proper1816
slick1818
blankly1822
bang1828
smack1828
pluperfectly1831
unmitigatedly1832
bodaciously1833
unredeemedly1835
out of sight1839
bodacious1845
regular1846
thoroughly1846
ingrainedly1869
muckinga1880
fucking1893
motherless1898
self1907
stone1928
sideways1956
terminally1974
?1515 Hyckescorner (de Worde) sig. C.ii Clean fro thy welthe she wyll the lyfte.
?1518 Virgilius sig. aiij He toke a ronne and lept klene over.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Acts xxvi. 9 To do..thynges, clene agaynst the name off Jesus.
1562 T. Cooper Answere Def. Truth f. 18, in Apol. Priuate Masse In this ye speake cleane beside the worde of god.
1587 W. Harrison Descr. Eng. (1877) ii. xiii. i. 255 The new towne standeth cleane without the limits of the old.
1593 T. Bilson Perpetual Govt. Christes Church 201 Cleane against the intent of the writers.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) i. i. 133 Roming cleane through the bounds of Asia. View more context for this quotation
1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 282 Every Part of which was cut clean through.
1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. S. Afr. vii. 140 note (Frank Vardon) A ball..went clean through his shoulder-blade.
d. with such adjectives as contrary, different, other, contradictory, impossible, wrong, etc.
ΚΠ
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 6 The wych thyng to me semyth clene contrary.
1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. i. Defin. An other thyng cleane different from the depenesse.
1587 W. Harrison Descr. Eng. (1877) ii. i. i. 35 I am cleane of another mind.
a1593 H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 430 The church of Rome, being clean contradictory, doth marvellously err.
a1635 R. Sibbes in C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David (1871) II. Ps. xxvii. 8 With God it is clean otherwise.
1839 C. Brontë Let. 26 July in E. C. Gaskell Life C. Brontë (1857) I. viii. 196 Your proposal has almost driven me ‘clean daft’.
1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles & St. James (new ed.) xxix, in Writings I. 299 She was going clean wrong.
1883 J. S. Stallybrass tr. J. Grimm Teutonic Mythol. III. Introd. 50 To make a real portrait of Deity is clean impossible.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > completely [phrase] > in full or to fullest extent > fully or without exceptions or qualifications
quite and cleana1175
for odd or evenc1425
the fullness of timec1425
in toto1798
sans phrase1808
hook, line, and sinker1838
a1175 Cott. Hom. 231 Þat hi alle clone simle belocen were.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11866 He wes al clane [c1300 Otho cleane] of olifantes bane.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 50 Knoute..chaced him out of Norweie quyte & clene.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 14803 Alle þis cuntree..rises wiþ him quite & clene.
c1440 Partonope 5484 Youre old manerys be turned alle clene.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) x. 124 [He] saw the king distroy vp, cleyn and law, His land.
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. Pref. sig. **v They breake of quite and cleane.
1613 H. Finch Law (1636) 105 And thereof quit and cleane to ouste the feoffee, donee, or lessee.
1832 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 640 Are ye quite and clean gane wrang?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> see also
also refers to : clean-adj.adv.
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adj.883v.c1450adv.a1000see also