clean

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
clean/kliːn/

▶adjective

• 1 free from dirt, marks, or pollutants.

  ■ attentive to personal hygiene.

• 2 morally pure.

  ■ not offensive or obscene: good clean fun.

  ■ showing or having no record of offences or crimes.

  ■ done according to the rules.

• 3 free from irregularities; smooth; well defined: a clean fracture of the leg.

• 4 (of an action) smoothly and skilfully done.

• 5 (of a taste, sound, or smell) distinctive and fresh.

▶adverb

• 1 so as to be free from dirt.

• 2 informal completely: I clean forgot her birthday.

▶verb

• 1 remove dirt or marks from; make clean.

• 2 (clean someone out) informal use up or take all someone's money.

  ■ (clean something out) strip a place of and steal all its contents.

• 3 (clean up) informal make a substantial gain or profit.

▶noun an act of cleaning.

– phrases
clean and jerk a weightlifting exercise in which a weight is raised above the head following an initial lift to shoulder level.
clean someone's clock N. Amer. informal beat or decisively defeat someone.
a clean sheet (or slate) an absence of existing restraints or commitments.

■ (keep a clean sheet) (in a soccer match) prevent the opposing side from scoring.

come clean informal fully confess something.
keep one's hands clean remain uninvolved in an immoral or illegal act.
make a clean breast of it fully confess one's mistakes or wrongdoings.
make a clean sweep

• 1 remove all unwanted people or things ready to start afresh.

• 2 win all of a group of related sporting contests.

– derivatives
cleanable adjective,
cleaning noun,
cleanish adjective,
cleanness noun.

– origin OE clǣne, of W. Gmc origin.