What is the meaning of CLEAN OUT

clean out something

clean s.t. out

Definition:

clean the inside of something by removing the unnecessary things that are inside

Examples:

1. Now that the weather is warm, we want to clean out the garage this weekend. There are several things in there that we don’t need any more. We want to get rid of them.

2. I need to clean my car out. We took a road trip on the weekend and now my car is full of junk.

3. There is something growing in the back of our refrigerator. We need to clean it out after work tonight.

clean out someone

clean s.o. out

Definition:

use or take all of someone’s money

Examples:

1. She cleaned him out in their divorce. He will have to work until he is 80 years old!

2. The stock market crash cleaned out all his savings.

present –	CLEAN OUT
present participle –	CLEANING OUT
past –	CLEANED OUT
past participle –	CLEANED OUT

Note:  Many phrasal verbs have more than one meaning. The definitions may not all be included here.

Phrasal Verb List