cleanskin
/ˈklːnskɪn
/noun informal
1chiefly British A person who does not have an existing criminal record or who has not attracted the attention of police or security forces: intelligence officials have been concerned for some time about the threat posed by cleanskins...
- He was presented to the jury as a cleanskin: he had no criminal involvement whatsoever in these matters.
- The threat comes from cleanskins, individuals with no training and no previous involvement in militancy.
- He had never been arrested in Northern Ireland; he was viewed as a 'cleanskin' whose fingerprints had not been taken by the RUC.
2 (also clearskin) Australian /NZ An animal that has not been branded with the owner’s mark: [as modifier]: Delacy began the trapping and branding of cleanskin cattle...
- She was not a cleanskin; the Mirramilla brand was on her rump.
- Cattle-stealing — rounding up someone else's clean-skin cattle and branding them as your own — was a way of doing business in the early days.
- Occasionally, producers use helicopter musters in some areas if they feel there are sufficient clean skin cattle to pay for the helicopter.
3Australian /NZ A bottle of wine whose label does not identify the producer, typically sold at a low price: Steve bought a cleanskin ($16) from the local tavern...
- Palombo holds a cleanskin Shiraz bottle which will be ready for sale in August.
- The narrator is somewhat sardonic about his guests and is perhaps influenced by the three whiskies he's had and the cleanskin he's finishing up with.
- He arranged cold meats and cheeses for our lunches, as well as discovering a special deal on cleanskin wines, which turned out to be a good bargain.