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PlainSpell

clearance

clear·ance/ˈklɪɚ.əns/noun

clearance is spelled C-L-E-A-R-A-N-C-E, 2 syllables: clear·ance. The wrong spelling people search most is clearence: about 1,480 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 196 of all searches for the word. Clearance is a noun meaning “The act of clearing or something (such as a space) cleared”. The plural of clearance is clearances.

How many letters and syllables are in clearance?

Letters9: C-L-E-A-R-A-N-C-E
Syllables2: clear·ance
In writing9.1 times per million words; the 7,553rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched2; the most searched, clearence, about 1,480 Bing searches a month (all of them)

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How do you spell clearance?

Clearance is spelled C-L-E-A-R-A-N-C-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 192 of the searches for clearance in either form.

clearancethe right spelling291,480 searches a month
clearencee in place of a1,480 searches a month
cleareancean extra e50 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is clearance?

Clearance appears 9.1 times per million words in written English, the 7,553rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce clearance?

  • UK /ˈklɪə̯.ɹəns/
  • UK [ˈkʰlɪə̯.ɹəns] ~ [ˈkʰlɪə̯.ɹn̩s]
  • US /ˈklɪɚ.əns/

Clearance has 2 syllables, split clear·ance in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-clearance.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of clearance

  • clearances plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does clearance mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The act of clearing or something (such as a space) cleared.

  2. 2

    The distance between two moving objects, especially between parts of a machine

  3. 3

    The height or width of a tunnel, bridge or other passage, or the distance between a vehicle and the walls or roof of such passage; a gap, headroom.

    Clearance on these freeway overpasses is limited, so big trucks must detour.

  4. 4

    A permission for a vehicle to proceed, or for a person to travel.

    The plane got clearance from air traffic control, and we were off.

  5. 5

    A permission to have access to sensitive or secret documents or other information.

  6. 6

    A permission to use something, usually intellectual property, that is legally, but not otherwise, protected.

  7. 7

    A sale of merchandise, especially at significantly reduced prices, usually in order to make room for new merchandise or updated versions of the same merchandise; sometimes as a closeout.

  8. 8

    The settlement of transactions involving securities or means of payment such as checks by means of a clearing house.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Clearance in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchévacuation, vidage (act of clearing or something cleared), tolérance, intervalle, espace (distance between two moving objects), gabarit (height or width of a passage, or the distance…)
GermanAusräumung, Leerung, Rodung, Roden (act of clearing or something cleared), Spiel (distance between two moving objects), Freigabe (permission for a vehicle to proceed, or for a…)
Portugueselimpa (act of clearing or something cleared), folga (distance between two moving objects), espaço (height or width of a passage, or the distance…), autorização (de partida/viagem/etc.) (permission for a vehicle to proceed, or for a…), autorização (permission to have access to sensitive or…), liquidação (sale of merchandise at a reduced price)
Spanishdespeje, despejo, desobstrucción (act of clearing or something cleared), claro, holgura, huelgo (distance between two moving objects)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does clearance come from?

From clear + -ance.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after clearance