Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for cleaning. Search instead for cleating.
Synonyms

cleaning

American  
[klee-ning] / ˈkli nɪŋ /

noun

  1. an act or instance of making clean.

    Give the house a good cleaning.

  2. Slang. an overwhelming or complete defeat, financial loss, or failure.

    Our team took a cleaning in yesterday's game.

  3. Informal. killing.

Other Word Forms

  • self-cleaning adjective

Etymology

Origin of cleaning

First recorded in 1655–75; clean + -ing 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Most Silicon Valley companies at the time lavished their top engineering talent with free lunches, on-site dry cleaning, nap pods and other luxury amenities.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026

The attempt went relatively smoothly, she explains, apart from a "nightmarish" section when cleaning a kid's playground at four in the morning where the game's bright primary colours affected her in "a very psychedelic way".

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

Meanwhile the pipeline stocks the fund does own have been busy paying down debt and cleaning up their own financial profiles.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

Rather than immediately cleaning the fossils, he inspected them closely.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

I look through the bottles on the counter, the cleaning supplies, and the mass of cords in the bottom of her closet.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.