English Dictionary |
HOUSECLEANING
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Dictionary entry overview: What does housecleaning mean?
• HOUSECLEANING (noun)
The noun HOUSECLEANING has 2 senses:
1. (figurative) the act of reforming by the removal of unwanted personnel or practices or conditions
2. the act of cleaning the rooms and furnishings of a house
Familiarity information: HOUSECLEANING used as a noun is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
(figurative) the act of reforming by the removal of unwanted personnel or practices or conditions
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Context example:
many employees were discharged in a general housecleaning by the new owners
Hypernyms ("housecleaning" is a kind of...):
reform (a change for the better as a result of correcting abuses)
Domain usage:
figure; figure of speech; image; trope (language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The act of cleaning the rooms and furnishings of a house
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Context example:
efficient housecleaning should proceed one room at a time
Hypernyms ("housecleaning" is a kind of...):
cleaning; cleansing; cleanup (the act of making something clean)
Derivation:
houseclean (clean and tidy up the house)
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