cleaner

[ klee-ner ]

noun

1. a person who cleans, especially one whose regular occupation is cleaning cleaning offices, buildings, equipment, etc.
2. an apparatus or machine for cleaning, cleaning, as a vacuum cleaner.
3. a preparation for use in cleaning, cleaning, as a detergent or chemical bleach.
4. the owner or operator of a dry-cleaning establishment:

   The cleaner said he couldn't get the spot off my coat.

5. Usually cleaners. a dry-cleaning establishment:

   My suit is at the cleaners.

cleaner

/ ˈkliːnə /

noun

1. a person, device, chemical agent, etc, that removes dirt, as from clothes or carpets
2. usually plural a shop, etc that provides a dry-cleaning service
3. take a person to the cleaners informal.
   to rob or defraud a person of all of his money

Other Words From

• pre·cleaner noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cleaner¹

First recorded in 1425–75, cleaner is from the late Middle English word clener. See clean, -er ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. take to the cleaners, Slang. to cause to lose all or a great deal of one's money or personal property, as through gambling or a bad investment:

   He got taken to the cleaners in the poker game last night.

Example Sentences

Where cabin cleaning required much physical work, being a dispatcher required planning and strategizing for where and when to send cleaners.

From Fortune

I started as a cleaner of aircraft cabins on the graveyard shift.

From Fortune

Frontline workers like security guards, house cleaners, and grocery store clerks deserved greater respect long before the pandemic began.

From Fortune

Nevertheless he does have a perspective, gesturing toward the work going on at the now shuttered Cobalt, to the dry cleaners on the corner, “none of this would be possible without immigrants.”

From Washington Blade

In fact, an unexpected benefit of regulations is that brands are now working with cleaner data.

From Search Engine Land

So this pool cleaner would always come around and talk to her, and I figured it would be a good idea for a movie.

From The Daily Beast

We wrote the film together, but it was about a guy pool cleaner.

From The Daily Beast

Is filtered water that much cleaner and safer than tap water?

From The Daily Beast

Cars may be cleaner one year, but breakdowns might become more common, too.

From The Daily Beast

And is politics really cleaner when stringent restrictions are put into place?

From The Daily Beast

The ground lately in the shaft has been cleaner killas, and if any alteration, better ground.

From Project Gutenberg

As the French farms are usually on a small scale, they are invariably kept cleaner than those in England and America.

From Project Gutenberg

A small portion of hyposulphite of soda mixed with vinegar will make a good cleaner for teacups having tannin stains.

From Project Gutenberg

But he made a gallant recovery with a vaccuum cleaner an' was aven with th' prisidint in four.

From Project Gutenberg

But if a man wants to write why put it down some place where it's going to be swept up by the street cleaner the next day.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cleanser
• disinfectant
• soap