cleaning house
Sweeping everything out
Cleaning house is tidying and organizing a home—sweeping, dusting, putting things away.
The phrase extends to any thorough removal of unwanted elements: The new CEO is cleaning house, firing half the executives.
When someone cleans house, they eliminate problems, corruption, or incompetence in one decisive sweep.
- sanitizeCleanse of pathogens
- sweepBrush clean with broom
- vacuumingRemoving dirt by suction
- scrubClean by rubbing hard
- declutteringEliminating unnecessary possessions
mopping · polish · disinfect · dusting · washing up · mop · clear the decks · tidy · sprucing up · deodorize · reorganizing · eliminating · pruning · purging · laundering · culling · bleaching · overhauling
- Lunar New Yearred envelopes, lion dance, dragon dance, firecrackers, lanterns
- HogmanayAuld Lang Syne, shortbread, bagpipes, ceilidh, tall dark stranger
- Tetlucky money, red envelopes, peach blossom, family reunion, reunion dinner
cleaning housemaking a mess
dirtying · cluttering · messing up · hoarding · littering
cleaning housecircling the wagons
Unifying against outside attack
entrenching · doubling down · covering up · sweeping under the rug
cleaning housetidying up
surface cleaning · spot cleaning · going through the motions
clean, house, cleans, cleaned, cleaner, cleaners, cleanest, cleaning, cleanliness