CLEAR UP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does clear up mean? 

• CLEAR UP (verb)
  The verb CLEAR UP has 5 senses:

1. make clear and (more) comprehensible

2. finish a task completely

3. free (the throat) by making a rasping sound

4. become clear

5. make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear

  Familiarity information: CLEAR UP used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLEAR UP (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make clear and (more) comprehensible

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

clarify; clear up; elucidate

Context example:

clarify the mystery surrounding her death

Hypernyms (to "clear up" is one way to...):

explain; explicate (make plain and comprehensible)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "clear up"):

demystify (make less mysterious or remove the mystery from)

clear; clear up; crystalise; crystalize; crystallise; crystallize; elucidate; enlighten; illuminate; shed light on; sort out; straighten out (make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear)

dilate; elaborate; enlarge; expand; expatiate; exposit; expound; flesh out; lucubrate (add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing)

disambiguate (state unambiguously or remove ambiguities from)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Finish a task completely

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

clear up; finish off; finish up; get through; mop up; polish off; wrap up

Context example:

I finally got through this homework assignment

Hypernyms (to "clear up" is one way to...):

complete; finish (come or bring to a finish or an end)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "clear up"):

cap off (finish or complete, as with some decisive action)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Free (the throat) by making a rasping sound

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

clear; clear up

Context example:

Clear the throat

Hypernyms (to "clear up" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Become clear

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

brighten; clear; clear up; light up

Context example:

The sky cleared after the storm

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
It is ----ing

Antonym:

overcast (make overcast or cloudy)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

clear; clear up; crystalise; crystalize; crystallise; crystallize; elucidate; enlighten; illuminate; shed light on; sort out; straighten out

Context example:

Clear up the question of who is at fault

Hypernyms (to "clear up" is one way to...):

clarify; clear up; elucidate (make clear and (more) comprehensible)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

To clear up which, I endeavoured to give some ideas of the desire of power and riches; of the terrible effects of lust, intemperance, malice, and envy.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

“There are one or two small points which I should desire to clear up before I go,” said he.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Can you not clear up the last point in this mystery, and tell us the reasons for your action?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This is just the time of day for it to clear up, and I do think it looks a little lighter.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Neptune will go direct on November 27 and may clear up a mystery in the days surrounding that date.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The new specimens, found in 2015, clear up those questions.

(Scientists discover fossil of dinosaur ancestor with surprising croc-like appearance, NSF)

My tongue is a blunt one, and fitter to shout word of command than to clear up such a matter as this, of which I can myself understand little.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

No light which I possessed could clear up the cause for the lady’s sudden departure.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

These usually clear up the infection, but it can come back.

(Athlete's Foot, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

But I couldn't, and when I saw her in Switzerland, everything seemed to clear up all at once.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)