- Clean
- Clean Clean (kl[=e]n), a. [Compar. {Cleaner} (kl[=e]n"[~e]r);
superl. {Cleanest}.] [OE. clene, AS. cl[=ae]ne; akin to OHG.
chleini pure, neat, graceful, small, G. klein small, and
perh. to W. glan clean, pure, bright; all perh. from a
primitive, meaning bright, shining. Cf. {Glair}.]
1. Free from dirt or filth; as, clean clothes.
[1913 Webster]
2. Free from that which is useless or injurious; without defects; as, clean land; clean timber. [1913 Webster]
3. Free from awkwardness; not bungling; adroit; dexterous; as, a clean trick; a clean leap over a fence. [1913 Webster]
4. Free from errors and vulgarisms; as, a clean style. [1913 Webster]
5. Free from restraint or neglect; complete; entire. [1913 Webster]
When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of corners of thy field. --Lev. xxiii. 22. [1913 Webster]
6. Free from moral defilement; sinless; pure. [1913 Webster]
Create in me a clean heart, O God. --Ps. li. 10 [1913 Webster]
That I am whole, and clean, and meet for Heaven --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
7. (Script.) Free from ceremonial defilement. [1913 Webster]
8. Free from that which is corrupting to the morals; pure in tone; healthy. ``Lothair is clean.'' --F. Harrison. [1913 Webster]
9. Well-proportioned; shapely; as, clean limbs. [1913 Webster]
{A clean bill of health}, a certificate from the proper authority that a ship is free from infection.
{Clean breach}. See under {Breach}, n., 4.
{To make a clean breast}. See under {Breast}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
