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Glite Dictionary
🧹 Making clean ⚾ Fourth hitter 💰 A big profit
cleanup

cleanup

4 5.2
A very large profit made in a short time
  • noun
  • /ˈkliːnʌp/
  • Slang
translation icon : dineral
  • The federal government has released its plan for the first 10 years of a massive cleanup project of a century's worth of mining pollution in Idaho's Silver Valley.

Examples

  • However, during excavations in the rear courtyard, we found a trash pit containing the damaged and discarded belongings swept out of the house during the post-fire cleanup.

    Academic text (2006)

  • You left Ives and his team a hell of a cleanup.

    Tenet (2020)

  • After selling the business, she enjoyed a significant cleanup that allowed her to travel the world.

  • His smart investments in tech startups resulted in a huge cleanup during the market boom.

  • The unexpected sale of the property generated a remarkable cleanup, exceeding all her financial goals.

Synonyms

killing
vscleanup
  • Informal
51 6.0

A large sudden profit made quickly

is a big profit often from a short event but not necessarily unexpected

Antonyms

loss
695 2.1

Money lost by a business or person

deficit
674 4.3

An amount by which money or resources are less than needed

Idioms

cleanup on aisle five
  • US
5.6

An announcement in a store asking staff to clean a mess in an aisle right away

Compounds

cleanup crew
8 2.4

A group of people who clean a place after an event or accident

cleanup spot
  • Jargon
1 6.7

A fourth batter in the batting order, usually the strong hitter who tries to make runners score

cleanup brigade
3.4

A group of people who pick up litter and remove debris after an event or disaster

cleanup event
1.6

An event where people meet to clean a park, street, or beach together

cleanup position
  • Jargon
6.1

The fourth batter in the batting order, usually the team's best hitter

neighborhood cleanup
  • US
2.4

An organized day when local people pick up trash and improve their area

How Profitable

cleanup
  • Slang
4 5.2
windfall
35 5.1
bonanza
25 7.1
profit
  • Specialized
∞ 2.0

Surface Forms

cleanup singular
cleanups plural

Morphology

cleanup = clean + up (opaque) = clean + up

The form is transparently based on 'clean up', but the meaning 'a very large profit' is an idiomatic extension that cannot be predicted from the components alone.

Etymology

Cleanup comes from the simple parts clean + up, with the image of 'clearing the table' or taking everything in sight. A helpful way to remember the profit sense is to picture someone at a casino 'cleaning up' by winning all the money, so a 'cleanup' is a very large gain.