Clean (?), a. [Compar. Cleaner (); superl. Cleanest.] [OE. clene, AS. clne; akin to OHG. chleini pure, neat, graceful, small, G. klein small, and perh. to W. glan clean, pure, bright; all perh. from a primitive, meaning bright, shining. Cf. Glair.]
1.
Free from dirt or filth; as, clean clothes.
2.
Free from that which is useless or injurious; without defects; as, clean land; clean timber.
3.
Free from awkwardness; not bungling; adroit; dexterous; as, aclean trick; a clean leap over a fence.
4.
Free from errors and vulgarisms; as, a clean style.
5.
Free from restraint or neglect; complete; entire.
When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of corners of thy field.
Le.xxiii. 22
6.
Free from moral defilement; sinless; pure.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Ps. li. 10
That I am whole, and clean, and meet for Heaven
Tennyson.
7. Script.
Free from ceremonial defilement.
8.
Free from that which is corrupting to the morals; pure in tone; healthy.
"Lothair is
clean."
F. Harrison.
9.
Well-proportioned; shapely; as, clean limbs.
A clean bill of health, a certificate from the proper authrity that a ship is free from infection. -- Clean breach. See under Breach, n., 4. -- To make a clean breast. See under Breast.
© Webster 1913.
Clean, adv.
1.
Without limitation or remainder; quite; perfectly; wholly; entirely.
"Domestic broils
clean overblown."
Shak.
"Clean contrary."
Milton.
All the people were passed clean over Jordan.
Josh. iii. 17.
2.
Without miscarriage; not bunglingly; dexterously.
[Obs.] "Pope came off
clean with Homer."
Henley.
© Webster 1913.
Clean (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cleaned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Cleaning.] [See Clean, a., and cf. Cleanse.]
To render clean; to free from whatever is foul, offensive, or extraneous; to purify; to cleanse.
To clean out, to exhaust; to empty; to get away from (one) all his money. [Colloq.]
De Quincey.
© Webster 1913.