clean

cleanverb

American /klin/ British /kliːn/

third-person singular cleans past tense cleaned past participle cleaned present participle cleaning

very commondefining vocabulary

remove dirtremove dirt, dust, or marks from something
transitive or intransitive [T/I] verb + object [V + obj] verb + object + preposition + object [V + obj + prep + obj]
- I clean the kitchen every Saturday. V + obj
- She cleaned the windows with warm water. V + obj + prep + obj
- He spent the whole morning cleaning.
- This carpet is very hard to clean.
Collocations
verb + noun clean the house, clean the floor, clean the windows, clean a wound
verb + adverb clean thoroughly, clean properly
verb + preposition clean something with something
Compare wash (wash means cleaning with water, usually with soap); wipe (wipe means cleaning a surface by moving a cloth over it)
fish or birdtake the inside parts out of a fish or a bird before cooking it
transitive [T] verb + object [V + obj] cooking
- Clean the fish before you cook it. V + obj
- He showed me how to clean a chicken. V + obj

Clean is the general word and says nothing about how the dirt is removed: clean the bathroom. Wash means using water, usually with soap: wash the dishes, wash your hands. Wipe means moving a cloth or your hand over a surface: wipe the table.

See also clean up (make a place clean and tidy); clean out (clean the inside of a room or container and take out what is not wanted)

Meaning across languages Some languages use one verb for clean, wash, and wipe. English chooses by the method: wash with water, wipe with a cloth over a surface, and clean for any method.