cleaner
nounadjectivecommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈkliː.nə//
- United States//ˈkli.nɚ//
A person whose occupation is to clean things, especially rooms, floors, and windows.
noun
- 1
A person whose occupation is to clean things, especially rooms, floors, and windows.
The cleaner worked, of course, at nights. He had to coal and light up the engine, as well as clean it, for the next day's work, which commenced with a light run to Barnham to "bring in the goods" from that station at about 6.30 a.m.
- 2
A device that cleans, such as the vacuum cleaner.
- 3
A substance used for cleaning; especially, one retailed for that purpose and meant for use on things other than one's own body.
Near-synonym: cleaning fluid
- 4
A professional laundry or dry cleaner (business).
I'll have to take this shirt to the cleaners.
- 5
informalA fixer; a person who disposes of bodies and evidence.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English clener, clenere, equivalent to clean + -er (agent noun suffix).
adjective
- 1
Also a form of cleanComparative form of clean: more clean.
Diesel No. C222 was shunting near the shed, as was a 4-4-0 with a very large-looking boiler, No. 306, which was much the cleaner of the two.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English clener, clenner, clanner, clannere, from Old English clǣnra, clǣnre (“cleaner, purer, clearer”), from Proto-West Germanic *klainiʀō (“daintier, more delicate”), from Proto-Germanic *klainizô (“shinier, finer, more splendid”), equivalent to clean + -er.
Forms
- plural
- cleaners
cleaner · A person whose occupation is to clean things, especially rooms, floors, and windows.
cleaners · A professional laundry or dry cleaner.cleaning · The process of making something clean; a freeing from filth…cleanse · To free from dirt; to clean, to purify.