CLEANLY (cleanlier, cleanliest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: cleanlier    , cleanliest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cleanly mean? 

• CLEANLY (adjective)
  The adjective CLEANLY has 1 sense:

1. habitually clean

  Familiarity information: CLEANLY used as an adjective is very rare.

• CLEANLY (adverb)
  The adverb CLEANLY has 2 senses:

1. smoothly and without difficulty; precisely and deftly

2. in a manner that minimizes dirt and pollution

  Familiarity information: CLEANLY used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLEANLY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Habitually clean

Context example:

cleanly in their persons and habitations

Similar:

clean (free from dirt or impurities; or having clean habits)

Derivation:

cleanliness (diligence in keeping clean)

• CLEANLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Smoothly and without difficulty; precisely and deftly

Synonyms:

cleanly; flawlessly

Context example:

he bounced it cleanly off the wall

Pertainym:

clean (free from clumsiness; precisely or deftly executed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

In a manner that minimizes dirt and pollution

Context example:

the motor burns cleanly

Pertainym:

clean (free from dirt or impurities; or having clean habits)

 Context examples 

The sign was newly painted; the windows had neat red curtains; the floor was cleanly sanded.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

A formidable array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the chemical work which was so dear to him.

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

His age was six and forty, but the constant practice of arms, together with a cleanly life, had preserved his activity and endurance unimpaired, so that from a distance he seemed to have the slight limbs and swift grace of a boy.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Any volume which a component introduces to a system that is not cleanly swept and relies on diffusion to clear the space; a dead-end passageway or cavity that can retain materials to contaminate subsequent samples or flow media.

(Dead Volume, NCI Thesaurus)

This had its effect; for he led me back into the house, and ordered a mare-servant to open a room, where a good store of milk lay in earthen and wooden vessels, after a very orderly and cleanly manner.

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

His muscles had wasted away to knotty strings, and the flesh pads had disappeared, so that each rib and every bone in his frame were outlined cleanly through the loose hide that was wrinkled in folds of emptiness.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

There were some flat slabs of rock in the center, with an excellent well close by, and there we sat in cleanly comfort while we made our first plans for the invasion of this new country.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was very cleanly dressed, in a blue coat, striped waistcoat, and nankeen trousers; and his fine frilled shirt and cambric neckcloth looked unusually soft and white, reminding my strolling fancy (I call to mind) of the plumage on the breast of a swan.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

For two months Alleyne had wavered betwixt death and life, with a broken rib and a shattered head; yet youth and strength and a cleanly life were all upon his side, and he awoke from his long delirium to find that the war was over, that the Spaniards and their allies had been crushed at Navaretta, and that the prince had himself heard the tale of his ride for succor and had come in person to his bedside to touch his shoulder with his sword and to insure that so brave and true a man should die, if he could not live, within the order of chivalry.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He said, I differed indeed from other Yahoos, being much more cleanly, and not altogether so deformed; but, in point of real advantage, he thought I differed for the worse: that my nails were of no use either to my fore or hinder feet; as to my fore feet, he could not properly call them by that name, for he never observed me to walk upon them; that they were too soft to bear the ground; that I generally went with them uncovered; neither was the covering I sometimes wore on them of the same shape, or so strong as that on my feet behind: that I could not walk with any security, for if either of my hinder feet slipped, I must inevitably fall.

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