These words refer to anything that is unsoiled by use or neglect or that is untainted by dirt or grime. Clean emphasizes freedom from dirt, grime or stain. A thing may be clean because it is new, unused or unmarked: a clean sheet of paper. More often, the word suggests that something has been freed of soil or the marks of use in order to be used again: clean dishes, clean sheets. Less concretely, clean can refer to an absence of fault or failing which combines in some uses with its reference to the absence of marks, implying a place where faults might otherwise be marked down in a list: a clean slate; a clean record. The word’s implications of purity further extend to the moral sense, referring to that which is innocent, especially of sexual impropriety: a clean mind; clean jokes. Clean can, however, refer simply to what is well-meaning and harmless: good clean fun.

Fresh is often used in apposition with clean to emphasize newness or lack of use as well as purity: fresh , clean snow; a fresh , clean shirt. It may also suggest something revivifying in its purity: fresh air. Used in reference to failings, it suggests, not an absence of faults, but the putting aside of past mistakes: a fresh start; fresh approaches. Spotless refers to an actual absence of marks or blemishes. It is, however, more emphatic than clean , and carries implications of neatness and tidiness as well: a spotless room. Other wise, the word may simply be a hyperbolic substitute for clean , though it may differ in describing something never sullied: a spotless record.

Stainless may be used in a way closely resembling spotless . Much more often now, however, it indicates something that cannot be stained, especially something designed with this quality in mind: stainless steel cutlery. In this sense something that is stainless need not necessarily be clean. Immaculate , the most formal of these words, can function like spotless as a hyperbole for clean in all situations: an immaculate suit. On this level, it reflects its Latin root which means literally without spot. But the word also has a wider ranges of application to moral propriety and is particularly relevant in a religious context, meaning sinless: hermits who strove to lead immaculate lives. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception holds that Jesus was conceived untainted by original sin.

These words refer to the removing of dirt, disorder or unwanted matter. Clean is the most general of these, referring to any methods whatever by which something is freed of grime, refurbished or made pure: cleaning her nails with a nailfile; cleaning the mud from his boots with a brush; cleaning the cutting board with soap and water; a machine to clean and recirculate the air. Cleanse , when substituted for clean in any of these examples, gives an odd or inappropriately formal tone. In other uses, it may suggest an especially thorough cleaning or immersion in water. At its most specific, it indicates a careful bathing action: cleansing the wound of infected matter. It is also appropriately used metaphorically when clean might be ludicrous or too concrete: cleansing the administration of graft and corruption; the breaking through of sunlight to cleanse the day of its sullen shadows. The word also has special pertinence with reference to the removal of pollution of the washing away of evil or sin: cleansing our rivers of poisonous wastes; cleansing the soul of every impure thought. To scrub is to get clean by using a hard brush with soap and water: a floor scrubbed until the timber had turned white. Scour has a similar meaning, but the action is even stronger and might involve the use of abrasives, solvents, etc.: to scour the saucepans so that they shone.

The remaining words concentrate, more mundanely, on some specific aspect inherent in the general suggestions of clean . Dust , most specifically, suggests rubbing, brushing or swabbing to free a surface of loosely accumulated particles: dusting the furniture with an oily cloth. Polish involves not only cleaning by dusting or some other process but also the raising of a high lustre by the use of instruments, pads, waxes, etc. Sweep suggests a cleaning action done specifically with a broom, usually to clean floors of loose dirt: sweeping up the sawdust; sweeping out the kitchen. Wipe specifically suggests a light rubbing or swabbing action, sometimes involving a cloth or rag that may or may not be moistened with water or a cleanser : wiping the dishes with a dry towel; wiping down the steps with a soapy rag; wiping the sweat from his forehead. Tidy suggests the removal of disorder by returning things to their proper place: offering to tidy up after the party. When a housewife cleans house, she scrubs , mops, sweeps and dusts , and also tidies up. But tidy , in contrast to clean , may sound excessively coy or precious in some contexts: going to the powder room to tidy up.