• (RP) IPA: /kliːn/, [kʰl̥iːn]
• (GA) enPR: klēn, IPA: /klin/, [kʰl̥ĩn]
• ((Ireland), dated), enPR: klān, IPA: /kleːn/, [kʰl̥eːn]

clean (comparative cleaner, superlative cleanest)

1. (heading, physical) Free of dirt or impurities or protruberances.
   1. Not dirty.

      Are these dishes clean?  Your room is finally clean!

      • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, OCLC 7780546 ↗; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], OCLC 2666860 ↗, page 0091 ↗:

        Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

   2. In an unmarked condition.

      Put a clean sheet of paper into the printer.

   3. (aerodynamics) Allowing an uninterrupted flow over surfaces, without protrusions such as racks or landing gear.
   4. empty

      The cargo hold is clean.  Mister, I want to see a clean dinner plate or there'll be no dessert for you.

   5. (of metal) Having relatively few impurities.

      clean steel

2. (heading, behavioural) Free of immorality or criminality.
   1. Pure, especially morally or religiously.

      Our kids can watch this movie because it is clean.

      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Psalms 51:10 ↗:

        Create in me a clean heart, O God.

      • ?, Alfred Tennyson, St. Simeon Stylites

        That I am whole, and clean, and meet for Heaven.

      • 1914, New Zealand Parliamentary Debates (volume 168, page 195)

        I do not think there is any member in this House who will not agree that that is the clean thing to do. Any member sitting on the Government benches will admit in private that that is the proper course for members who break faith.

   2. Not having used drugs or alcohol.

      I've been clean this time for eight months.

   3. (of criminal, driving, etc. records) Without restrictions or penalties, or someone having such a record.

      Unlike you, I’ve never caused any accidents — my record is still clean!

   4. (informal) Not in possession of weapons or contraband such as drugs.

      I’m clean, officer. You can go ahead and search me if you want.

   5. (informal) Devoid of profanity.
3. smooth, exact, and performed well

   I’ll need a sharper knife to make clean cuts.  a clean leap over a fence

4. (obsolete) Total; utter. qual still in "clean sweep"

   • Moreover, I find there are some Words now in French which are turned to a Countersense […] Cocu is taken for one whose Wife is light, and hath made him a passive Cuckold; whereas clean contrary, Cocu, which is the Cuckow, doth use to lay her Eggs in another Bird's Nest.

5. (informal) Cool or neat.

   Wow, Dude, those are some clean shoes ya got there!

6. (health) Being free of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

   I want to make sure my fiancé is clean before we are married.

7. That does not damage the environment.

   clean energy;  clean coal

8. Free from that which is useless or injurious; without defects.

   clean land;  clean timber

9. Free from restraint or neglect; complete; entire.
   • Bible, Book of Leviticus xxiii.22:

     When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of corners of thy field.

10. Well-proportioned; shapely.

    clean limbs

11. (climbing, of a route) Ascended without falling.

• (not dirty) Thesaurus:clean

• dirty
• unclean

• French: propre, net
• German: sauber, rein
• Italian: pulito
• Portuguese: limpo, asseado
• Russian: чи́стый
• Spanish: limpio

• Portuguese: limpo
• Russian: чи́стый

• French: pur
• German: rein
• Portuguese: puro, imaculado
• Russian: чи́стый
• Spanish: limpio

• French: abstinent
• Italian: pulito
• Portuguese: limpo
• Spanish: limpio

• German: sauber
• Portuguese: limpo
• Russian: чи́стый

• German: sauber

• Italian: pulito
• Russian: чи́стый

• Italian: pulito
• Russian: чи́стый

clean (plural cleans)

1. Removal of dirt.

   This place needs a clean.

2. (weightlifting) The first part of the event clean and jerk in which the weight is brought from the ground to the shoulders.

• Portuguese: limpeza, limpada

clean (cleans, present participle cleaning; past and past participle cleaned)

1. (transitive) To remove dirt from a place or object.

   Can you clean the windows today?

2. (transitive) To tidy up, make a place neat.

   Clean your room right now!

3. (transitive, climbing) To remove equipment from a climbing route after it was previously lead climbed.
4. (intransitive) To make things clean in general.

   She just likes to clean. That’s why I married her.

5. (transitive, computing) To remove unnecessary files, etc. from (a directory, etc.).
6. (intransitive, curling) 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.
7. (manga fandom) To purge a raw of any blemishes caused by the scanning process such as brown tinting and poor color contrast.
8. To remove guts and/or scales of a butchered animal.

• See also Thesaurus:make clean

• French: nettoyer, poutzer (Switzerland)
• German: reinigen, säubern, putzen, abwischen
• Italian: pulire
• Portuguese: limpar
• Russian: чи́стить
• Spanish: limpiar

• French: ranger
• German: aufräumen, putzen
• Portuguese: arrumar
• Russian: убира́ть

• French: nettoyer
• German: reinigen, säubern, putzen
• Portuguese: limpar

clean (comparative cleaner, superlative cleanest)

1. Fully and completely.

   He was stabbed clean through.

   You must be clean mad.