Home UK English clear-up

Meaning of clear-up in English:

clear-up

Pronunciation

noun

  • 1A removal and tidying away of rubbish or obstructions.

    ‘It could be that someone has a bit of spare space in a greenhouse, or it may be that people want to help with litter clear-ups.’
    • ‘Parishioners had been left baffled by the regular clear-ups around their church.’
    • ‘The lorry was finally righted at 1.30 am and the clear-up went on till 2.30 am, as the rubbish was loaded onto new lorries, and the road was finally re-opened to traffic.’
    • ‘Calls have been made for an urgent clear-up of several streets after complaints about rubbish and fly-tipping.’
    • ‘He feared the taxpayer would have to pay the ‘significant’ cost of the clear-up of the bi-annual event.’
    • ‘We're just pleased that the clear-up has started and that these fridges are moving.’
    • ‘He said that there was no reason for residents to have to take part in a litter clear-up on April 6 when home owners were paying more council tax than ever.’
    • ‘The owner of a rubbish-strewn Rochford site has been told to pay £10,000 for a clear-up after district council officers decided to remove the waste themselves.’
    • ‘But the 70 boys returned on the weekend after a massive clear-up and repair operation costing around £70,000.’
    • ‘On Sunday there will be a village clear-up.’
    • ‘It is a great opportunity for everyone to do their bit - sort the front garden, help with a local clear-up, and get those bits and pieces to the dump.’
    • ‘If your garden is looking rough round the edges and you can't find a thing in the shed, start 2005 with a therapeutic clear-up.’
    • ‘After the tragedy, most local residents had volunteered to help in the clear-up in some respect or other.’
    • ‘This means it's a wise move to have a clear-up in the garden, while keeping hedges neat and fences vertical.’
    • ‘An emergency clear-up was carried out in a park after scores of dead fish were spotted in a pond.’
    • ‘But after a clear-up, inspectors said children could play there again.’
    • ‘A great crowd of volunteers turned up on Saturday to participate in the clear-up of the Bog.’
    • ‘If she never tidies her room, there'll come a point where she feels so frustrated at not being able to find things that she has a massive clear-up.’
    • ‘No-one was hurt either in the accident or in the clear-up operation.’
    • ‘They have been funding the clear-up operation and are trying to make the building clean and tidy.’

  • 2mass noun The solving of crimes by the police.

    as modifier ‘Welsh police had one of the most successful clear-up rates’
    • ‘It is understood the investigation will consider claims that officers have asked convicted crooks to take the blame for unsolved crimes to improve the police clear-up rate.’
    • ‘The campaign to drive up police detection and clear-up rates was announced at a police conference.’
    • ‘With DNA evidence, the average crime clear-up rate increases from 24 per cent to 43 per cent.’
    • ‘In terms of funding we are also among the lowest ranked in the country but we have enviable crime clear-up rates.’
    • ‘One British study has attempted to quantify the relationship between possible increases in manpower and likely improvements in clear-up rates.’
    • ‘The clear-up rate for car crime was 4.5 per cent and only 8 per cent for street crime.’
    • ‘Britain has an extremely high clear-up rate for murder: more than 80% of cases are solved.’
    • ‘This means that not just imprisonment rates, but clear-up rates and conviction rates were all falling at the same time as the crime rate was rising.’
    • ‘The aim of it is to give people a chance for a clean slate and to give police the opportunity of a clear-up rate.’
    • ‘The perceived clear-up rate for motoring offences is vastly higher, because, with a few obvious exceptions, motoring crimes are logged by the police themselves, who are immediately and accurately able to identify the car involved.’
    • ‘While there were 274 more acts of violence in the county compared to the previous year, the detection rate was almost 90 per cent - one of the highest clear-up rates in the country.’
    • ‘The clear-up rate increased from 55% to 60% last year, but police admit they are fighting a holding operation at best.’
    • ‘Yet those very same communities also want a higher clear-up rate for committed crimes and, ideally, effective crime prevention.’
    • ‘The clear-up days, in which Wiltshire Fire Brigade took part, were organised partly to try and tackle a spate of arson attacks, which have plagued the estate.’
    • ‘In addition, the clear-up rate for these offences fell in Brandenburg to only 39 percent, far lower than for other types of crime.’
    • ‘The burglary rate in the county remains well below the national average, although the clear-up rate is five per cent lower than the national average.’
    • ‘Overall crime is down in the area by 35% - but that isn't the same as a good clear-up rate.’
    • ‘Meanwhile, the clear-up rate has declined significantly in recent years.’
    • ‘Only by redirecting the efforts of officers can we achieve what many police forces are still singularly failing to achieve - a high level of clear-ups.’
    • ‘They indicate that prison interviews still account for 4 per cent of clear-ups.’
    solving, clear-up