clear the air

clear

C0397000 (klîr)adj. clear·er, clear·est 1. Free from clouds, mist, or haze: a clear day.2. Not obscured or darkened; bright: clear daylight; a clear yellow.3. Easily seen through; transparent: clear water.4. Free from flaw, blemish, or impurity: a clear, perfect diamond; a clear record with the police.5. Free from impediment, obstruction, or hindrance; open: a clear view; a clear path to victory.6. Plain or evident to the mind; unmistakable: a clear case of cheating.7. Easily perceptible to the eye or ear; distinct: the clear call of a songbird.8. Discerning or perceiving easily; keen: a clear mind.9. Free from doubt or confusion; certain: His meaning is clear.10. Free from qualification or limitation; absolute: a clear winner.11. Free from guilt; untroubled: a clear conscience.12. Having been freed from contact, proximity, or connection: At last we were clear of the danger. The ship was clear of the reef.13. Free from charges or deductions; net: a clear profit.14. Containing nothing: The ship's hold was clear.adv.1. Distinctly; clearly: spoke loud and clear.2. Out of the way; completely away: stood clear of the doors.3. Informal All the way; completely: slept clear through the night; read the book clear to the end.v. cleared, clear·ing, clears v.tr.1. To make light, clear, or bright: The wind cleared the sky of clouds.2. To rid of impurities, blemishes, muddiness, or foreign matter: The new filter cleared the water.3. To free from confusion, doubt, or ambiguity; make plain or intelligible: cleared up the question of responsibility.4. a. To rid of objects or obstructions: clear the table; clear the road of debris.b. To make (a way or clearing) by removing obstructions: clear a path through the jungle.c. To remove (objects or obstructions): clear the dishes; clear snow from the road.5. a. To remove the occupants of: clear the theater.b. To remove (people): clear the children from the room.6. Sports a. To move or shoot (a ball or puck) away from the goal or out of the defensive zone.b. To clear a ball or puck out of (the defensive zone), as in lacrosse or hockey.7. Computers a. To rid (a memory location or buffer, for example) of instructions or data.b. To remove (instructions or data) from memory.8. To free from a legal charge or imputation of guilt; acquit: cleared the suspect of the murder charge.9. To pass by, under, or over without contact: The boat cleared the dock.10. To settle (a debt).11. To gain (a given amount) as net profit or earnings.12. To pass (a bill of exchange, such as a check) through a clearing-house.13. a. To secure the approval of: The bill cleared the Senate.b. To authorize or approve: cleared the material for publication.14. To free (a ship or cargo) from legal detention at a harbor by fulfilling customs and harbor requirements.15. To give clearance or authorization to: cleared the plane to land.16. To free (the throat) of phlegm by making a rasping sound.v.intr.1. To become clear: The sky cleared.2. To go away; disappear: The fog cleared.3. a. To exchange checks and bills or settle accounts through a clearing-house.b. To pass through the banking system and be debited and credited to the relevant accounts: The check cleared.4. To comply with customs and harbor requirements in discharging a cargo or in leaving or entering a port.n. A clear or open space.Phrasal Verb: clear out Informal To leave a place, usually quickly.Idioms: clear the air To dispel differences or emotional tensions. in the clear1. Free from burdens or dangers.2. Not subject to suspicion or accusations of guilt: The evidence showed that the suspect was actually in the clear.

[Middle English cler, from Old French, from Latin clārus, clear, bright; see kelə- in Indo-European roots.]

clear′a·ble adj.clear′er n.clear′ly adv.clear′ness n.Synonyms: clear, crystal, crystalline, limpid, pellucid, transparent
These adjectives mean not opaque or clouded: wrapped in clear plastic; crystal waters fed by snowmelt; crystalline air after a storm; a limpid blue pool; fish darting in the pellucid shallows; the transparent wings of a dragonfly. See Also Synonyms at apparent.

Thesaurus

Verb

clear the air - dispel differences or negative emotions; "The group called a meeting to finally clear the air"chase away, dispel, drive away, drive off, drive out, run off, turn back - force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings; "Drive away potential burglars"; "drive away bad thoughts"; "dispel doubts"; "The supermarket had to turn back many disappointed customers"

clear the air

1. To remove or improve stale air or an unpleasant odor. Please open a window and clear the air in here—it's too stuffy.2. To discuss or otherwise confront a troublesome issue, usually with the goal of alleviating tension or confusion. The silent treatment isn't helping the situation between you two, so just clear the air already. Once we cleared the air, we found that it had just been a simple misunderstanding.3. To remove doubt from a situation. They were able to clear the air by producing the document in question, so that we could all see it for ourselves.See also: air, clear

clear the air

1. Lit. to get rid of stale or bad air. Open some windows and clear the air. It's stuffy in here. 2. Fig. to get rid of doubts or hard feelings. All right, let's discuss this frankly. It'll be better if we clear the air.See also: air, clear

clear the air

Eliminate confusion, dispel controversy or emotional tension, as in His letter has cleared the air; we now know where he stands. This idiom alludes to an atmosphere cleared of sultriness by a storm. [Late 1800s] See also: air, clear

clear the air

COMMON If something such as an argument or a discussion clears the air, it makes bad feelings between people go away. I get angry and frustrated with Hannah's behaviour, but I'm a great believer in expressing my feelings to clear the air. Some groups in our community seem to suffer from discrimination. An independent inquiry could clear the air and sort out the problem. Note: You can also talk about air-clearing. Goalkeeper Edwards said that the half-time air-clearing session turned the game round.. Note: Journalists sometimes talk about clear-the-air meetings or talks. He is determined to have a clear-the-air meeting with Murray this weekend.See also: air, clear

clear the air

defuse or clarify an angry, tense, or confused situation by frank discussion. This expression comes from the idea that a thunderstorm makes the air less humid.See also: air, clear

clear the ˈair

remove the causes of disagreement, fear, doubts, etc. by talking about them honestly and openly: Mary had been bad-tempered with me for days, so in an attempt to clear the air, I asked her what the matter was.See also: air, clear

clear the air

To dispel differences or emotional tensions.See also: air, clear

clear the air, to

To remove confusion or controversy. The analogy to stormy weather was made as long ago as the fourteenth century, although at first the term meant to free something from clouds or other obscuring elements. In time it came to mean getting rid of the sultry oppressiveness common before a storm, which then was transferred to the removal of misunderstanding or ambiguity. Thus a British reporter wrote, “His explicit . . . reply to Parnell’s speech . . . cleared the air” (Manchester Examiner, 1885).See also: clear

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Words related to clear the air

verb dispel differences or negative emotions

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