Clean (klēn), a. [Compar.Cleaner (�); superl.Cleanest.] [OE. clene, AS. clǣne; akin to OHG. chleini pure, neat, graceful, small, G. klein small, and perh. to W. glan clean, pure, bright; all perh. from a primitive, meaning bright, shining. Cf. Glair.] 1. Free from dirt or filth; as, clean clothes.
2. Free from that which is useless or injurious; without defects; as, clean land; clean timber.
3. Free from awkwardness; not bungling; adroit; dexterous; as, a clean trick; a clean leap over a fence.
4. Free from errors and vulgarisms; as, a clean style.
5. Free from restraint or neglect; complete; entire.
When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of corners of thy field.
Lev. xxiii. 22.
6. Free from moral defilement; sinless; pure.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Ps. li. 10
That I am whole, and clean, and meet for Heaven
Tennyson.
7. (Script.) Free from ceremonial defilement.
8. Free from that which is corrupting to the morals; pure in tone; healthy. “Lothair is clean.” F. Harrison.
9. Well-proportioned; shapely; as, clean limbs.
A clean bill of health, a certificate from the proper authority that a ship is free from infection. — Clean breach. See under Breach, n., 4. — To make a clean breast. See under Breast.