1. A tract of land with few or no trees in the middle of a wooded area
   "Deer often graze in the forest clearing";
   - glade
    
2. The act of freeing from suspicion
   "The investigation led to the clearing of the suspect"
    
3. The act of removing solid particles from a liquid
   "The clearing of the muddy water revealed the pond's true depth";
   - clarification
    
4. [UK] The process during which remaining university places are allocated to the remaining students
   "Many students secured their university spots through clearing"

1. Rid of obstructions
   "Clear your desk";
   - unclutter
    
2. Make a way or path by removing objects
   "Clear a path through the dense forest"
    
3. Remove so as to leave tidy or unobstructed
   "Clear snow from the road"; "clear the leaves from the lawn"
    
4. Make clear or more understandable; remove confusion or ambiguity
   "Clear up the question of who is at fault";
   - clear up, shed light on, crystallize, crystallise [Brit], crystalize [US, rare], straighten out, sort out, enlighten, illuminate, elucidate
    
5. Make clear, bright, light, or translucent
   "The water had to be cleared through filtering"
    
6. Become free from clouds or less cloudy; become brighter
   "The sky cleared after the storm";
   - clear up, light up, brighten
    
7. Go unchallenged; be approved
   "The bill cleared the House";
   - pass
    
8. Pass an inspection or receive authorization
   "clear customs"
    
9. Free from blame or guilt; clear from accusation or official charges
   "The suspect was cleared of the murder charges";
   - acquit, assoil [archaic], exonerate, exculpate [formal]
    
10. Clear from impurities, blemishes, pollution, etc.
    "clear the water before it can be drunk"
     
11. Be debited and credited to the proper bank accounts
    "The payment should clear within 2 business days"
     
12. Yield as a net profit
    "This sale cleared me $1 million";
    - net
     
13. Make as a net profit
    "The company cleared $1 million";
    - net, sack [N. Amer, informal], sack up [N. Amer, informal]
     
14. Receive money in return for work; make a profit as the result of some business transaction
    "He clears $5,000 each month";
    - gain, take in, make, earn, realize, realise [Brit], pull in [informal], bring in
     
15. Sell to get rid of
    "We cleared a lot of the old model cars"
     
16. Settle, as of a debt
    "clear a debt";
    - solve
     
17. Go away or disappear
    "The fog cleared in the afternoon"
     
18. Pass by, over, or under without making contact
    "the balloon cleared the tree tops";
    - top
     
19. (computing) rid of instructions or data
    "clear a memory buffer"
     
20. Remove (people) from a building
    "clear the patrons from the theatre after the bomb threat"
     
21. Remove the occupants of
    "Clear the building"
     
22. Free (the throat) by making a rasping sound
    "Clear the throat"
     
23. Grant authorization or clearance for
    "Clear the manuscript for publication";
    - authorize, authorise [Brit], pass
     
24. Free from payment of customs duties, as of a shipment
    "Clear the ship and let it dock"

Derived forms: clearings

See also: sack

Type of: acquire, act, allow, alter, bear, benefit, bring home the bacon [informal], change, clarify, clear up, come through, come up trumps [Brit, informal], countenance, create, deliver the goods, determine, disappear, discharge, disembarrass, elucidate, empty, flog [Brit, informal], free, freeing, gain, get, go away, improvement, judge, label, let, liberation, make, modify, move, move out, overhaul, overtake, parcel, parcel of land, pass, pay, permit, piece of ground, piece of land, profit, pronounce, release, remove, rid, sell, settle, square off, square up, succeed, take, take away, take out, tract, turn up trumps [Brit, informal], vanish, vary, win, withdraw, yield

Antonym: bounce, clutter

Encyclopedia: Clearing, Illinois