clean

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clean / klēn/ • adj. 1. free from dirt, marks, or stains. ∎  having been washed since last worn or used: a clean blouse. ∎  (of paper) not yet marked by writing or drawing. ∎  (of a person) attentive to personal hygiene. ∎  free from pollutants or unpleasant substances. ∎  free from or producing relatively little radioactive contamination. 2. morally uncontaminated; pure; innocent: clean living. ∎  not sexually offensive or obscene. ∎  showing or having no record of offenses or crimes: a clean driving license is essential for the job. ∎  played or done according to the rules: it was a good clean fight. ∎  inf. not possessing or containing anything illegal, esp. drugs or stolen goods: I searched his luggage, and he was clean. ∎  inf. (of a person) not taking or having taken drugs or alcohol. ∎  free from ceremonial defilement, according to Mosaic Law and similar religious codes. ∎  (of an animal) not prohibited under such codes and fit to be used for food. 3. free from irregularities; having a smooth edge or surface: a clean fracture of the leg. ∎  having a simple, well-defined, and pleasing shape: the clean lines of modernism. ∎  (of an action) smoothly and skillfully done: I still hadn't made a clean takeoff. ∎  (of a taste, sound, or smell) giving a clear and distinctive impression to the senses; sharp and fresh. ∎  (of timber) free from knots. • adv. 1. so as to be free from dirt, marks, or unwanted matter: the room had been washed clean. 2. inf. used to emphasize the completeness of a reported action, condition, or experience: he was knocked clean off his feet. • v. [tr.] make (something or someone) free of dirt, marks, or mess, esp. by washing, wiping, or brushing: clean your teeth properly after meals [intr.] he always expected other people to clean up after him | [as n.] (cleaning) Anne will help with the cleaning. ∎  remove the innards of (fish or poultry) prior to cooking. PHRASES: (as) clean as a whistlesee whistle. clean bill of healthsee bill of health. clean someone's clock inf. give someone a beating. ∎  defeat or surpass someone decisively. clean one's plate eat up all the food put on one's plate. a clean sweep 1. the removal of all unwanted people or things in order to start afresh: the new leaders wanted to make a clean sweep of the old order. 2. the winning of all of a group of similar or related competitions, events, or matches: a clean sweep of Tuesday's primaries. clean up one's act inf. begin to behave in a better way, esp. by giving up alcohol, drugs, or illegal activities. come clean inf. be completely honest; keep nothing hidden: the company has refused to come clean about its pollution record. keep one's hands clean not involve oneself in an immoral act. keep one's nose cleansee nose. make a clean breast of something (or make a clean breast of it) confess fully one's mistakes or wrongdoings. wipe the slate cleansee wipe.PHRASAL VERBS: clean someone out inf. use up or take all someone's money. clean up ∎  make things or an area clean or neat. ∎ inf. make a substantial gain or profit. ∎  win all the prizes available in a sporting competition or series of events: the Germans cleaned up at Wimbledon. clean something up restore order or morality to: the police chief was given the job of cleaning up a notorious district.DERIVATIVES: clean·a·ble adj. clean·ish adj. clean·ness n.

CLEAN A technique widely used in radio astronomy to enhance radio maps. It consists of a series of steps to identify and remove the effect of distortion caused by unwanted side lobes. The distortion (i.e. the side-lobe pattern) can usually be calculated or measured for a particular telescope or interferometer. The technique is particularly useful for producing good maps from aperture synthesis observations in which only a fraction of the total aperture has been synthesized. The raw, or dirty, maps contain numerous false features caused by the side lobes. The CLEAN technique recognizes true features and separates them from the side-lobe pattern.

clean OE. clǣne = OS. klēni, OHG. kleini clear, delicate, small (G. klein small) :- WGmc. *klaini. The historically orig. sense ‘clear, pure’ is most nearly preserved by Eng. among the mod. langs.
Hence cleanly adj. and adv. OE. clǣnlīċ, -līċe; see -LY 1, -LY 2. cleanse OE. clǣnsian.

clean, a word which refers to the lines of a vessel's hull when they give a fine and unobstructed run from bow to stern so that the ship moves through the water smoothly without undue turbulence. It is normally used in terms such as a clean entrance, a clean run aft, and a clean-lined hull.

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