to clear off
8
3.0
- phrasal verb
- /klɪr ɔf/
:
limpiar
- I gather up the dinner, clear off the picnic table, and toss the garbage into the can.
- clear off the table
- clear off the desk
- clear off the dishes
There was a barbed wire fence and they they had cleared off some of the land and chop the trees down.
- There was a barbed wire fence and they they had cleared off some of the land and chop the trees down.
- I feel like I need to clear all of my handbags out for these.
Examples
-
I'll clear off a space where you can just lie down until the storm passes, okay?
-
Then let's clear this off the table and get everybody focused on the crime bill.
Fiction book (1995) -
You and you, clear off the table.
-
Come on, come on, clear off the street.
-
We are going to clear this off and move our computer onto the desk.
-
Let's clear off the desk first.
-
Hey, Anthony, I'm gonna need you to clear off this contract.
-
Now clear all this stuff off the porch before I call the marshal.
-
Dignan clears everything off the desk with one quick sweep of the arm.
Fiction book (1996) -
Please clear off the desk so we can start the project.
Synonyms
∞
1.5
To remove people or things from a place
333
2.7
To finish dealing with things and put them in order
260
1.0
To empty something completely
179
1.0
To remove everything from a container or place
28
2.0
To remove something from a surface by moving a cloth over it, like tears or dirt
20
1.0
Remove dirt or marks from a surface by rubbing with a cloth
10
1.8
To take things away from a place to make it tidy
1
1.0
To remove dirt or mud from a surface
Antonyms
How Empty
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'clear' (to remove) plus the particle 'off' (indicating removal from a surface), so the combined sense 'remove things from a surface so it becomes empty or clean' is compositionally predictable. This verb+particle pattern is common in English and mirrored in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Clear off comes from the simple image of taking things away from a surface: clear means to make empty and off means move away from it. Imagine pushing plates off a table so the top is empty; that's why it means 'to remove things from a surface so it becomes empty or clean'.