Clean means free from dirt, marks, or mess. A clean room has toys put away, clothes off the floor, and dust wiped from the shelves. Clean hands have no mud or food stuck to them. When you wash a plate until it's clean, you've removed all the leftover sauce and crumbs.

But clean goes beyond just physical dirt. A clean slate means starting fresh with no old mistakes counting against you, like when a teacher lets you retake a test. A clean record means you haven't broken rules or gotten in trouble. A clean copy of your essay has no crossed-out words or smudges. Athletes talk about clean performances when they execute moves perfectly without fumbles or errors.

The word can also describe something pure or simple. Clean energy comes from sources like wind or solar that don't pollute. A clean design is uncluttered and elegant, with nothing extra or unnecessary. A comedian who works clean tells jokes without inappropriate language.

When someone comes clean, it means revealing the truth after hiding it. Someone might come clean about breaking a window instead of letting a sibling take the blame. The phrase suggests washing away deception the way soap washes away dirt.