Clear

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /klɪə/
• US IPA: /klɪɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(r)

Alternative forms

• CLR contraction used in electronics

Origin

Middle English clere, from Anglo-Norman cler, from Old French cler (Modern French clair), from Latin clarus. Displaced native Middle English schir ("clear, pure") (from Old English scīr ("clear, bright")), Middle English skere ("clear, sheer") (from Old English scǣre and Old Norse skǣr ("sheer, clear, pure")), Middle English smolt ("clear (of mind), serene") (from Old English smolt ("peaceful, serene")).

Full definition of clear

Adjective

1. Transparent in colour.
   as clear as crystal
2. Bright, not dark or obscured.
   The windshield was clear and clean.
   Congress passed the President’s Clear Skies legislation.
3. Free of obstacles.
   The driver had mistakenly thought the intersection was clear.
   The coast is clear.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 1, Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path …. It twisted and turned,...and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights. 'Twas the house I'd seen the roof of from the beach.
4. Without clouds.
   clear weather;   a clear day
• 1910, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price Chapter 1, Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.
5. (meteorology) Of the sky, such that less than one eighth of its area is obscured by clouds.
6. Free of ambiguity or doubt.
   He gave clear instructions not to bother him at work.
   Do I make myself clear? Crystal clear.
   I'm still not quite clear on what some of these words mean.
• 2013-06-08, The new masters and commanders, From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much....  But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip.
7. Distinct, sharp, well-marked.
8. (figuratively) Free of guilt, or suspicion.
   a clear conscience
• Alexander PopeStatesman, yet friend to truth! in soul sincere,
  In action faithful, and in honour clear.
9. (of a soup) Without a thickening ingredient.
10. Possessing little or no perceptible stimulus.
    clear of texture;   clear of odor
11. (Scientology) Free from the influence of engrams; see Clear (Scientology).
12. Able to perceive clearly; keen; acute; penetrating; discriminating.a clear intellect; a clear head
• MiltonMother of science! now I feel thy power
  Within me clear, not only to discern
  Things in their causes, but to trace the ways
  Of highest agents.
13. Not clouded with passion; serene; cheerful.
• ShakespeareWith a countenance as clear
  As friendship wears at feasts.
14. Easily or distinctly heard; audible.
• Alexander PopeHark! the numbers soft and clear
  Gently steal upon the ear.
15. Unmixed; entirely pure.clear sand
16. Without defects or blemishes, such as freckles or knots.a clear complexion; clear lumber
17. Without diminution; in full; net.a clear profit
• Jonathan SwiftI often wished that I had clear,
  For life, six hundred pounds a year.

Antonyms

• obscure
• (of a soup) thick

Derived terms

Adverb

1. All the way; entirely.I threw it clear across the river to the other side.
2. Not near something or touching it.Stand clear of the rails, a train is coming.
3. free (or separate) from others
• 2010, December 29, Chris Whyatt, Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton, Much soul-searching is going on at the west London club who, just seven weeks ago, were five points clear at the top of the table and playing with the verve with which they won the title last season.
4. (obsolete) In a clear manner; plainly.
• unknown date MiltonNow clear I understand.
• The Satanic Verses
• Cruel Miracles
• There's a War Inside of Me
• Annalea A Princess in Exile
• A Better Man: An Inspirational Book

Verb

1. (transitive) To remove obstructions or impediments from.
• 1715–8, Matthew Prior, “Alma: or, The ProgreÅ¿s of the Mind” in Poems on Several OccaÅ¿ions (1741), canto III, page 297:Faith, Dick, I muÅ¿t confeÅ¿s, ‛tis true // (But this is only Entre Nous) // That many knotty Points there are, // Which All diÅ¿cuÅ¿s, but Few can clear.
• AddisonA statue lies hid in a block of marble; and the art of the statuary only clears away the superfluous matter.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 7, ‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. â€¦â€™
• 2013-06-29, Unspontaneous combustion, Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.
2. (ergative) To become freed from obstructions.
   When the road cleared we continued our journey.
3. (transitive) To eliminate ambiguity or doubt from a matter; to clarify; especially, to clear up.
4. (transitive) To remove from suspicion, especially of having committed a crime.
   The court cleared the man of murder.
• DrydenI ... am sure he will clear me from partiality.
• AddisonWouldst thou clear rebellion?
5. (transitive) To pass without interference; to miss.
   The door just barely clears the table as it closes.
   The leaping horse easily cleared the hurdles.
6. (intransitive) To become clear.
   After a heavy rain, the sky cleared nicely for the evening.
7. (intransitive) Of a check or financial transaction, to go through as payment; to be processed so that the money is transferred.
   The check might not clear for a couple of days.
8. (transitive, business) To earn a profit of; to net.
   He's been clearing seven thousand a week.
• Macaulaythe profit which she cleared on the cargo
9. (transitive) To obtain permission to use (a sample of copyrighted audio) in another track.
10. To disengage oneself from incumbrances, distress, or entanglements; to become free.
• 1613, Francis Bacon, Essays (Francis Bacon) (second edition), essay 18: “Of Expences”:BeÅ¿ides, he that cleares at once will relapÅ¿e: for finding himÅ¿elfe out of Å¿traights, he will reuert to his cuÅ¿tomes. But hee that cleareth by degrees, induceth an habite of frugality, and gaineth as well vpon his minde, as vpon his EÅ¿tate.
11. To obtain a clearance.
    The steamer cleared for Liverpool today.
12. (sports) To defend by hitting (or kicking, throwing, heading etc.) the ball (or puck) from the defending goal.
• 2010, December 29, Chris Whyatt, Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton, Bolton then went even closer when Elmander's cross was met by a bullet header from Holden, which forced a wonderful tip over from Cech before Drogba then cleared the resulting corner off the line.
13. To fell all trees of a forest.
14. (transitive, computing) To reset or unset; to return to an empty state or to zero.to clear an arrayto clear a single bit (binary digit) in a value

Synonyms

• (clear a forest) stub

Derived terms

• clear away
• clear off
• clear out
• clear up
• clearance
• clearing

Noun

1. (carpentry) Full extent; distance between extreme limits; especially; the distance between the nearest surfaces of two bodies, or the space between walls.a room ten feet square in the clear

Anagrams

• carle
• Clare
• lacer