An area of land within a wood or forest devoid of trees.
1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 8, Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges...: or anon we shot into a clearing, with a colored glimpse of the lake and its curving shore far below us.
(banking, finance) A process of exchanging transaction information and authorisation through a central institution or system to complete and settle those transactions.