to clear (someone's) inbox

3.0

Deal with all the emails in your inbox so it is empty or easy to handle

phrasal verb

Texting

: vaciar el buzón

She spent her lunch break trying to clear her inbox of unread messages.

Examples

I always try to clear my inbox before the end of the workday.
It's a great feeling to finally clear your inbox after a busy week.
Every Friday, I dedicate an hour to clear my inbox and respond to all messages.
It's satisfying when I can finally clear my inbox and start the weekend with no emails pending.
She made it a habit to clear her inbox each morning before tackling new tasks.

Synonyms

to clean

vsto clear (someone's) inbox

260 1.0

To empty something completely

focuses on dealing with and answering emails, not just emptying a folder

to clear out

vsto clear (someone's) inbox

91 3.1

Remove all things from a place so it becomes empty

is about processing and replying to emails rather than leaving or taking items

to clean out

vsto clear (someone's) inbox

91 3.2

Empty a place or container by removing everything inside

involves responding to messages and managing them, not only discarding

Antonyms

to ignore

∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

How Processed

to clear (someone's) inbox

Texting

3.0

to reply

453 1.0

Surface Forms

clear (someone's) inbox infinitive

cleared (someone's) inbox past

cleared (someone's) inbox past participle

clearing (someone's) inbox present participle

clears (someone's) inbox third person singular

Morphology

clear + (someone's) + inbox

The meaning 'to remove or deal with all emails' is transparently derived from combining 'clear' (to remove or empty) with 'inbox' (the place where incoming email is stored); the possessive simply indicates whose inbox it is. This literal verb+noun composition is common cross-linguistically and follows normal English grammar, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Clear (someone's) inbox gives a simple picture: you clear papers from the inbox tray on your desk so it becomes empty. So, it now means 'to remove or deal with all your emails so they are empty or tidy'.