clean up

present singular third person cleans up · participle present cleaning up · participle past cleaned up · past cleaned up

1. transitiveTo make an area or a thing clean; to pick up a mess; to tidy.

   Clean up your room.

   3 more examples

   Rhos station had been cleaned up for the occasion, and its single platform was gay with flags.

   1946 May and June, “Notes and News: Special Services for the Welsh National Eisteddfod”, in Railway Magazine, page 188

   Mr Mayor, you were elected in a campaign to clean up the city. When are you gonna start?

   2008 July 14, Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Comics, Legendary Pictures

   At the same time, it is pouring money into cleaning up the country.

   2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848

2. colloquialidiomaticintransitiveTo become clean, handsome, smart in appearance, e.g. for a special occasion, especially when it is out of character to be seen as such.

   He sure cleans up nice.

   Synonyms: scrub up

3. idiomatictransitiveTo make something less corrupt or unseemly.

   clean up one's act

   1 more example

   Gays in Providence have suggested that the raid on the Club Baths was a political action. There is some belief that the newly re-elected Cianci administration wants to prove that it is "out to clean up the city." During the election campaign, the Cianci administration was attacked by opponents as being "soft on crime."

   1978 December 16, Jim Marko, “Providence Police Raid Downtown Baths”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 21, page 1

4. idiomaticintransitiveTo make a large profit; to win by a large margin, or to win a large amount, especially in gambling. Also clean house.

   Man, he sure cleaned up last night at the blackjack table.

   2 more examples

   The investors cleaned up when the stock hit the roof last year.

   And for Rodgers, who cleaned up with Celtic in Scotland, this was another significant addition to his CV, as his expert guidance of Leicester - who are in a strong position to finish in the Premier League's top four and face Chelsea again at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday - now has a tangible reward in the shape of the FA Cup.

   2021 May 15, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 0-1 Leicester”, in BBC Sport

5. video gamesTo intervene in a fight between two players at low health and easily kill both of them or the winner.

   1 more example

   The key here is to stop third partying and start cleaning up. Running to the first bullets you hear will only guarantee one thing, a fight. […] Cleaning up means only swooping in for the free kills. Is a fight over? Does Octane has his hands in a deathbox? That is when you take the zipline and catch them with their pants down.

   2020 June 23, Jackson Haime, “Becoming a Legend: 4 Easy Ways to Climb in Apex Legends”, in Medium

1. misspellingMisspelling of cleanup.