clean.
Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled.
Meaning & usage
Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled.
Are these dishes clean? Your room is finally clean! For a baby, happiness is a full bottle and a clean diaper.
Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled. Of metal, having relatively few impurities.
clean steel
Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled. Not muscular due to steroid use.
I don't think he's clean, look at those traps.
Free of contamination, (unwanted) germs, infection, or disease.
Insert a clean swab into your nose.
Free of contamination, (unwanted) germs, infection, or disease. Devoid of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
I want to make sure my fiancé is clean before we are married.
Free of imperfections, blemishes, or defects. Of a victory or performance: without any blemishes such as submission holds, disqualification, interference, etc.
Free of imperfections, blemishes, or defects. Of a route, ascended without falling.
Free of imperfections, blemishes, or defects. Free from that which is useless or injurious; without defects.
clean land
clean timber
Free of imperfections, blemishes, or defects. In an unmarked condition; blank.
Put a clean sheet of paper into the printer.
Free of immorality or criminality. Pure, especially morally or religiously.
Our kids can watch this movie because it is clean.
Free of immorality or criminality. Not using drugs or alcohol.
go clean
I've been clean this time for eight months.
Free of immorality or criminality. Free from (or showing no signs of) corrupt, unlawful, and/or sinister conduct or connections (and (of criminal, driving, etc. records) therefore without restrictions or penalties).
Unlike you, I’ve never caused any accidents — my record is still clean!
Free of immorality or criminality. Not in possession of weapons or contraband such as drugs.
I'm clean, officer. You can go ahead and search me if you want.
Free of immorality or criminality. Devoid of profanity.
Free of infiltration by covert listening or recording devices (bugs), enemy spies, etc.
We are currently clean on OPSEC.
Empty.
The cargo hold is clean.
The condo was stripped clean by the previous tenant.
Smooth, exact, and performed well.
I'll need a sharper knife to make clean cuts.
a clean leap over a fence
That does not damage the environment (as much as some alternative).
clean energy
clean coal
Allowing an uninterrupted flow over surfaces, without protrusions such as racks or landing gear.
Having the undercarriage and flaps in the up position.
Well-proportioned; shapely.
clean limbs
Cool or neat.
Wow, dude, those are some clean shoes ya got there!
Utter, complete, total; pure; free from restraint.
a clean sweep
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *klainī Old English clǣne Middle English clene English clean From Middle English clene, from Old English clāne, clǣne (“clean; pure; clear”), from Proto-West Germanic *klainī (“dainty, fine, small; clean”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *glēy- (“gleaming”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to gleam”). Cognates Cognate with Alemannic German chlei, chli, chlii, chly, klei (“small”), Bavarian gloa, kla, klaa, kloa, kloan (“small; young; insignificant”), Central Franconian and Low German kleen (“small”), Cimbrian khlòan, khlumma (“small”), Dutch and German klein (“small”), Limburgish klein, kléïn (“small”), Luxembourgish kleng (“small”), Mòcheno khloa'n (“small”), Vilamovian klin (“small”), Yiddish קליין (kleyn, “small”), Danish klejn (“delicate, tiny”), Faroese klænur (“slight, slim, thin”), Icelandic klénn (“feeble, poor; indisposed; short; lame; good, pretty, snug”), Norwegian Bokmål klein, klen (“slender; sick; feeble; bad, poor, weak; inept”), Swedish klen (“weak”).
A removal of dirt.
This place needs a clean.
Give the pan a thorough clean.
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.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *klainī Old English clǣne Middle English clene English clean From Middle English clene, from Old English clāne, clǣne (“clean; pure; clear”), from Proto-West Germanic *klainī (“dainty, fine, small; clean”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *glēy- (“gleaming”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to gleam”). Cognates Cognate with Alemannic German chlei, chli, chlii, chly, klei (“small”), Bavarian gloa, kla, klaa, kloa, kloan (“small; young; insignificant”), Central Franconian and Low German kleen (“small”), Cimbrian khlòan, khlumma (“small”), Dutch and German klein (“small”), Limburgish klein, kléïn (“small”), Luxembourgish kleng (“small”), Mòcheno khloa'n (“small”), Vilamovian klin (“small”), Yiddish קליין (kleyn, “small”), Danish klejn (“delicate, tiny”), Faroese klænur (“slight, slim, thin”), Icelandic klénn (“feeble, poor; indisposed; short; lame; good, pretty, snug”), Norwegian Bokmål klein, klen (“slender; sick; feeble; bad, poor, weak; inept”), Swedish klen (“weak”).
To remove dirt from a place or object.
Can you clean the windows today?
To tidy up, make a place neat.
Clean your room right now!
To make things clean in general.
She just likes to clean. That’s why I married her.
To remove equipment from a climbing route after it was previously lead climbed.
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.
To lift a weight from the ground to one's shoulders.
Synonym of clean up.
To remove guts and/or scales of a butchered animal.
The fishmonger cleaned the mackerel.
To beat, to thrash; to defeat.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *klainī Old English clǣne Middle English clene English clean From Middle English clene, from Old English clāne, clǣne (“clean; pure; clear”), from Proto-West Germanic *klainī (“dainty, fine, small; clean”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *glēy- (“gleaming”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to gleam”). Cognates Cognate with Alemannic German chlei, chli, chlii, chly, klei (“small”), Bavarian gloa, kla, klaa, kloa, kloan (“small; young; insignificant”), Central Franconian and Low German kleen (“small”), Cimbrian khlòan, khlumma (“small”), Dutch and German klein (“small”), Limburgish klein, kléïn (“small”), Luxembourgish kleng (“small”), Mòcheno khloa'n (“small”), Vilamovian klin (“small”), Yiddish קליין (kleyn, “small”), Danish klejn (“delicate, tiny”), Faroese klænur (“slight, slim, thin”), Icelandic klénn (“feeble, poor; indisposed; short; lame; good, pretty, snug”), Norwegian Bokmål klein, klen (“slender; sick; feeble; bad, poor, weak; inept”), Swedish klen (“weak”).
Fully and completely.
He was stabbed clean through.
You must be clean mad.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *klainī Old English clǣne Middle English clene English clean From Middle English clene, from Old English clāne, clǣne (“clean; pure; clear”), from Proto-West Germanic *klainī (“dainty, fine, small; clean”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *glēy- (“gleaming”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to gleam”). Cognates Cognate with Alemannic German chlei, chli, chlii, chly, klei (“small”), Bavarian gloa, kla, klaa, kloa, kloan (“small; young; insignificant”), Central Franconian and Low German kleen (“small”), Cimbrian khlòan, khlumma (“small”), Dutch and German klein (“small”), Limburgish klein, kléïn (“small”), Luxembourgish kleng (“small”), Mòcheno khloa'n (“small”), Vilamovian klin (“small”), Yiddish קליין (kleyn, “small”), Danish klejn (“delicate, tiny”), Faroese klænur (“slight, slim, thin”), Icelandic klénn (“feeble, poor; indisposed; short; lame; good, pretty, snug”), Norwegian Bokmål klein, klen (“slender; sick; feeble; bad, poor, weak; inept”), Swedish klen (“weak”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.