cleanup

cleanup — noun

1. a single occasion when a place, surface, or area is tidied and washed so that di

1.nounB1
Definition

a single occasion when a place, surface, or area is tidied and washed so that dirt, mess, or rubbish is removed.

Example

After the birthday party, Trang and her brother started the cleanup in the kitchen.

start the cleanup + location

Volunteers organised a beach cleanup along the coast near Kaohsiung last Sunday.

compound noun: beach cleanup

Common collocations
  • beach cleanup
  • major cleanup
  • the cleanup operation
  • do a cleanup
Synonyms
  • tidy-up

    informal British equivalent for a smaller, household job

  • clearance

    focuses on removing items rather than washing

Grammar Patterns

a cleanup of [place]

do/start/finish a cleanup

Usage Note

Often forms compound nouns describing where the mess is: beach cleanup, oil-spill cleanup, kitchen cleanup. Frequently follows 'the' when referring to a known mess.

Common Mistakes

I cleanup my room every Saturday.
I clean up my room every Saturday.
as a verb it is two words ('clean up'); 'cleanup' written as one word is the noun.

2. a very large amount of money that someone earns quickly, especially from gamblin

2.nounC1
Definition

a very large amount of money that someone earns quickly, especially from gambling or a single business deal.

Example

Sivan made a real cleanup when the small tech firm she invested in was sold.

make a cleanup

The poker champion walked away with quite a cleanup that night in Macau.

walk away with a cleanup

Common collocations
  • make a cleanup
  • a real cleanup
Synonyms
  • killing

    more common synonym in modern speech

  • windfall

    covers any unexpected money, not only profit from skill or risk

Antonyms
  • loss

    money gone rather than gained

Grammar Patterns

make a cleanup

a cleanup on [investment]

Usage Note

Informal and somewhat dated; 'a killing' is more common in modern speech. Subject is usually a person who profits from one event, not a steady business.

3. in baseball, the fourth turn in the order of batters, given to the player most l

3.nounC2
Definition

in baseball, the fourth turn in the order of batters, given to the player most likely to hit the ball far and bring runners home.

Example

Valentina was promoted to cleanup after batting .350 in the playoffs.

promoted to cleanup

The Tigers' new slugger will bat cleanup against left-handed pitchers.

bat cleanup

Common collocations
  • bat cleanup
  • cleanup hitter
  • cleanup spot
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

bat cleanup

bat in the cleanup spot

Usage Note

Almost always appears in the fixed phrases 'bat cleanup' or 'the cleanup spot/hitter'. Rarely takes 'a' or 'the' on its own.

cleanup — adjective

cleanup — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe a single act of making a place neater, but they differ in scale and what gets removed. 'Cleanup' is the broadest and most common American term, covering everything from a quick kitchen job to a major environmental operation after a flood or oil spill. 'Tidy-up' (more British, more informal) suggests a small, gentle job — putting things back in place rather than removing dirt; you might say 'a quick tidy-up before guests arrive'. 'Clearance' focuses on removing things (old stock, rubbish, snow) rather than washing surfaces, as in 'a snow clearance after the storm'. 'Scrub-down' is the most physical: it implies hard washing with water and a brush, often of a single surface like a floor or wall. So you organise a beach cleanup, do a tidy-up of your desk, arrange a clearance of old furniture, and give the kitchen a scrub-down.

cleanup ↗tidy-upclearance ↗scrub-down

Common collocations

Nouns

  • cleanup operation
  • cleanup crew
  • cleanup effort
  • cleanup cost

Adverbs

Phrases

  • beach cleanup
  • oil-spill cleanup
  • post-flood cleanup

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern EnglishAmerican English

Formed in late 19th-century American English by joining the verb 'clean' with the adverb 'up'. The two-word verb 'clean up' (meaning to tidy completely) had existed in English since the 1500s, but writing it as one word turned it into a noun naming the act itself, and later an adjective for the fourth batter in baseball. The 'large profit' meaning grew from the slangy idea of 'sweeping up' all the money on a table, recorded in American sources from the early 20th century.