How do you use the word "clean" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "clean": You must keep your room clean. You had better make a clean breast of everything.

Clean Meaning

/kliːn/

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

adjFree of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled.

adjFree of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled., Of metal, having relatively few impurities.

Sentence Examples

You must keep your room clean.

You had better make a clean breast of everything.

Help yourself to a clean towel.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

pick fresh light

Antonyms:

dirty unclean qualified

CEFR Practice Quiz

He used a sponge to ____ the dirty kitchen counter thoroughly.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

Please make sure to ____ your room before you go out tonight.

Word Origin & History

Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *klainī Old English clǣne Middle English clene English clean From Middle English clene, clane, from Old English clǣne (“clean, pure”), from Proto-West Germanic *klainī (“shining, fine, splendid, tender”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *glēy- (“gleaming”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to gleam”). Cognate with Scots clean (“absolute, pure, clear, empty”) and clene, clane (“clean”), North Frisian klien (“small”), West Frisian klien (“small”), klean (“clean”), Dutch klein (“small”), Low German kleen (“small”), German klein (“small”), Swedish klen (“weak, feeble, delicate”), Icelandic klénn (“poor, feeble, petty, snug, puny, cheesy, lame”).

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls." — 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC:

"Very fine, well-sorted, clean sand with no shells." — 1964, Coastal Engineering Research Center (U.S.), Technical Memorandum - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Coastal Engineering Research Center, page 69:

"Scientists believe they have identified the world’s cleanest air, free from particles caused by human activity, located over the Southern Ocean, which surrounds Antarctica." — 2020 June 2, Amy Woodyatt, “Scientists say they have found the cleanest air on Earth”, in CNN:

""Serious as cognitohazard." Lillihammer danced down the corridor towards them, doing little pirouettes and leaping from toe to toe. "Reuben Wirth no longer exists. Gonna have to get Forsythe to do that brain scan to make sure I'm clean, but otherwise yeah. Poof."" — 2023 October 14, HarryBlank, “Face Time”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 23 May 2024:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God." — 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 51:10:

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