clean out

verb

"clean-out" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“clean out” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To clean, especially to tidy by removing the contents.

Corpus desk

Index EN-clean-out · clean out · English

clean out · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for clean out
PropertyValue
Headwordclean out
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “clean out” in English

clean outfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

clean out is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for clean out in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is clean out, spelled C-L-E-A-N- -O-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    To clean, especially to tidy by removing the contents.
  2. 2
    To take all money or possessions from.
  3. 3
    To hit or strike (someone); to beat up.
  4. 4
    To defeat, to cause to wash out.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how clean out appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Clean out your purse and at least get rid of all the trash you're hauling around.
  2. As soon as they have been pumped dry they are thoroughly cleaned out with high pressure hoses to prepare them for the next load.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "clean out"?
"clean out" is spelled C-L-E-A-N- -O-U-T.
What does "clean out" mean?
As a verb, "clean out" means: To clean, especially to tidy by removing the contents.
What language does "clean out" come from?
"clean out" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list