CLEARING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does clearing mean? 

• CLEARING (noun)
  The noun CLEARING has 3 senses:

1. a tract of land with few or no trees in the middle of a wooded area

2. the act of freeing from suspicion

3. the act of removing solid particles from a liquid

  Familiarity information: CLEARING used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLEARING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A tract of land with few or no trees in the middle of a wooded area

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

clearing; glade

Hypernyms ("clearing" is a kind of...):

parcel; parcel of land; piece of ground; piece of land; tract (an extended area of land)

Derivation:

clear (remove)

clear (make a way or path by removing objects)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of freeing from suspicion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("clearing" is a kind of...):

freeing; liberation; release (the act of liberating someone or something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clearing"):

purgation; purge; purging (the act of clearing yourself (or another) from some stigma or charge)

exoneration; vindication (the act of vindicating or defending against criticism or censure etc.)

whitewash (a specious or deceptive clearing that attempts to gloss over failings and defects)

Derivation:

clear (pronounce not guilty of criminal charges)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of removing solid particles from a liquid

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

clarification; clearing

Hypernyms ("clearing" is a kind of...):

improvement (the act of improving something)

Derivation:

clear (make clear, bright, light, or translucent)

clear (clear from impurities, blemishes, pollution, etc.)

 Context examples 

Normally, a moon like Proteus should have gravitationally swept aside or swallowed the smaller moon while clearing out its orbital path.

(Tiny Neptune Moon Spotted by Hubble May Have Broken from Larger Moon, NASA)

A high-grade endometrial adenocarcinoma characterized by the presence of large neoplastic cells that display at least focal cytoplasmic clearing.

(Endometrial Clear Cell Adenocarcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

This is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged in clearing up some small points in connection with it.

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

"Wolf! Wolf! Here Wolf!" she called, as they left the clearing and took the trail that led down through the waxen-belled manzanita jungle to the county road.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

With a restless movement he rolled his head around, clearing his left ear from the pillow against which it had been pressed.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It therefore found in a wide variety of habitats: volcanic terrains, lava-strewn coasts, and clearings or limestone outcrops.

(Morinda citrifolia, NCI Thesaurus)

These outbursts can have the effect of clearing away some of the gas produced by the Wolf-Rayet winds.

(Scientists Take Viewers to the Center of the Milky Way, NASA)

Into the clearing where the moonlight streamed, they poured in a silvery flood; and in the centre of the clearing stood Buck, motionless as a statue, waiting their coming.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Though our kind uncle has done something towards clearing him, I cannot believe that ten thousand pounds, or anything like it, has been advanced.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

This agent probably acts by increasing the clearing of intestinal contents, thereby eradicating tapeworm infections from the intestines.

(Dichlorophen, NCI Thesaurus)