Clear — Defs

01 a. Free from opaqueness; transparent; bright; light; luminous; unclouded.

1.
Free from opaqueness; transparent; bright; light; luminous; unclouded.
“The stream is so transparent, pure, and clear.” — Denham.

“Fair as the moon, clear as the sun.” — Canticles vi. 10.
2.
Free from ambiguity or indistinctness; lucid; perspicuous; plain; evident; manifest; indubitable.
“One truth is clear; whatever is, is right.” — Pope.
3.
Able to perceive clearly; keen; acute; penetrating; discriminating; as, a clear intellect; a clear head.
“Mother of science! now I feel thy power Within me clear, not only to discern Things in their causes, but to trace the ways Of highest agents.” — Milton.
4.
Not clouded with passion; serene; cheerful.
“With a countenance as clear As friendship wears at feasts.” — Shak.
5.
Easily or distinctly heard; audible; canorous.
“Hark! the numbers soft and clear Gently steal upon the ear.” — Pope.
6.
Without mixture; entirely pure; as, clear sand.
7.
Without defect or blemish, such as freckles or knots; as, a clear complexion; clear lumber.
8.
Free from guilt or stain; unblemished.
“Statesman, yet friend to truth! in soul sincere, In action faithful, and in honor clear.” — Pope.
9.
Without diminution; in full; net; as, clear profit.
“I often wished that I had clear, For life, six hundred pounds a-year.” — Swift.
10.
Free from impediment or obstruction; unobstructed; as, a clear view; to keep clear of debt.
“My companion . . . left the way clear for him.” — Addison.
11.
Free from embarrassment; detention, etc.
“The cruel corporal whispered in my ear, Five pounds, if rightly tipped, would set me clear.” — Gay.

Phrases & compounds

Clear breach — See under Breach, n., 4.

Clear days — days reckoned from one day to another, excluding both the first and last day; as, from Sunday to Sunday there are six clear days.

Clear stuff — boards, planks, etc., free from knots.

Syn. Manifest; pure; unmixed; pellucid; transparent; luminous; obvious; visible; plain; evident; apparent; distinct; perspicuous. See Manifest.

02 n. Full extent; distance between extreme limits; especially; the distance between the nearest surfaces of two bodies, or the space between wal…

1.
Full extent; distance between extreme limits; especially; the distance between the nearest surfaces of two bodies, or the space between walls; as, a room ten feet square in the clear.(Carp.)

03 adv. In a clear manner; plainly.

1.
In a clear manner; plainly.
“Now clear I understand What oft . . . thoughts have searched in vain.” — Milton.
2.
Without limitation; wholly; quite; entirely; as, to cut a piece clear off.

04 v. t. To render bright, transparent, or undimmed; to free from clouds.

imp. & p. p. Cleared; p. pr. & vb. n. Clearing

1.
To render bright, transparent, or undimmed; to free from clouds.
“He sweeps the skies and clears the cloudy north.” — Dryden.
2.
To free from impurities; to clarify; to cleanse.
3.
To free from obscurity or ambiguity; to relive of perplexity; to make perspicuous.
“Many knotty points there are Which all discuss, but few can clear.” — Prior.
4.
To render more quick or acute, as the understanding; to make perspicacious.
“Our common prints would clear up their understandings.” — Addison
5.
To free from impediment or incumbrance, from defilement, or from anything injurious, useless, or offensive; as, to clear land of trees or brushwood, or from stones; to clear the sight or the voice; to clear one's self from debt; -- often used with of, off, away, or out.
“Clear your mind of cant.” — Dr. Johnson.

“A statue lies hid in a block of marble; and the art of the statuary only clears away the superfluous matter.” — Addison.
6.
To free from the imputation of guilt; to justify, vindicate, or acquit; -- often used with from before the thing imputed.
“I . . . am sure he will clear me from partiality.” — Dryden.

“How! wouldst thou clear rebellion?” — Addison.
7.
To leap or pass by, or over, without touching or failure; as, to clear a hedge; to clear a reef.
8.
To gain without deduction; to net.
“The profit which she cleared on the cargo.” — Macaulay.

Phrases & compounds

To clear a ship at the customhouse — to exhibit the documents required by law, give bonds, or perform other acts requisite, and procure a permission to sail, and such papers as the law requires.

To clear a ship for action — to remove incumbrances from the decks, and prepare for an engagement.

To clear the land — to gain such a distance from shore as to have sea room, and be out of danger from the land.

To clear hawse — to disentangle the cables when twisted.

To clear up — to explain; to dispel, as doubts, cares or fears.

05 v. i. To become free from clouds or fog; to become fair; -- of the weather; -- often followed by up, off, or away.

1.
To become free from clouds or fog; to become fair; -- of the weather; -- often followed by up, off, or away.
“So foul a sky clears not without a storm.” — Shak.

“Advise him to stay till the weather clears up.” — Swift.
2.
To become free from turbidity; -- of solutions or suspensions of liquids; as, the salt has not completely dissolved until the suspension clears up; when refrigerated, the juice may become cloudy, but when warmed to room temperature, it clears up again.
3.
To disengage one's self from incumbrances, distress, or entanglements; to become free.[Obs.]
“He that clears at once will relapse; for finding himself out of straits, he will revert to his customs; but he that cleareth by degrees induceth a habit of frugality.” — Bacon.
4.
To make exchanges of checks and bills, and settle balances, as is done in a clearing house.(Banking)
5.
To obtain a clearance; as, the steamer cleared for Liverpool to-day.

Phrases & compounds

To clear out — to go or run away; to depart.