Clear, a. [Compar. Clearer; superl. Clearest.]
Etymology: [OE. cler, cleer, OF. cler, F. clair, fr.L. clarus, clear, broght, loud, distinct, renownwd; perh. akin to L. clamare to call, E. claim. Cf. Chanticleer, Clairvoyant, Claret, Clarufy.]
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 ambiquity or indistinctness; lucid; perspicuous; plain; evident; manifest; indubitable. One truth is clear; whatever is, is right. Pop
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.
8 more senses
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. Clear breach. See under Breach, n., 4. -- Clear days (Law.), 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.
4 other Webster entries under this spelling
Clear, n. (Carp.)
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.
Clear, adv.
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.
Clear, v. t. [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 fallure; 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. 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, or To clear for action (Naut.), to remove incumbrances from the decks, and prepare for an engagement. -- To clear the land (Naut.), to gain such a distance from shore as to have sea room, and be out of danger from the land. -- To clear hawse (Naut.), to disentangle the cables when twisted. -- To clear up, to explain; to dispel, as doubts, cares or fears.
Clear, v. i.
1. To become free from clouds or fog; to become fair; -- often fallowed by up, off, or away. So foul a sky clears without a strom. Shak. Advise him to stay till the weather clears up. Swift.
2. To disengage one's self frpm incumbrances, distress, or entanglements; to become free. [He that clears at once will relapse; for finding himself out of straits, he will revert to the customs; but he that cleareth by degrees induceth a habit of frugality. Bacon.
3. (Banking)
To make exchanges of checks and bills, and settle balances, as is done in a clearing house.
4. To obtain a clearance; as, the steamer cleared for Liverpool to- day. To clear out, to go or run away; to depart. [Colloq.]
Shades of meaning
Clear (L. clarus, bright, brilliant) primarily refers to that which shines, and impresses the mind through the eye with a sense of luster or splendor. A substance is said to be clear that offers no impediment to vision--is not dim, dark, or obscure. Transparent refers to the medium through which a substance is seen, clear to the substance itself, without reference to anything to be seen through it; we speak of a stream as clear when we think of the water itself; we speak of it as transparent with reference to the ease with which we see the pebbles at the bottom. Clear is also said of that which comes to the senses without dimness, dulness, obstruction, or obscurity, so that there is no uncertainty as to its exact form, character, or meaning, with something of the brightness or brilliancy implied in the primary meaning of the word clear; as, the outlines of the ship were clear against the sky; a clear view; a clear note; "clear as a bell;" a clear, frosty air; a clear sky; a clear statement; hence, the word is used for that which is free from any kind of obstruction; as, a clear field. Lucid and pellucid refer to a shining clearness, as of crystal. A transparent body allows the forms and colors of objects beyond to be seen through it; a translucent body allows light to pass through, but may not permit forms and colors to be distinguished; plate glass is transparent, ground glass is translucent. Limpid refers to a liquid clearness, or that which suggests it; as, limpid streams. That which is distinct is well defined, especially in outline, each part or object standing or seeming apart from any other, not confused, indefinite, or blurred; distinct enunciation enables the hearer to catch every word or vocal sound without perplexity or confusion; a distinct statement is free from indefiniteness or ambiguity; a distinct apprehension of a thought leaves the mind in no doubt or uncertainty regarding it. That is plain, in the sense here considered, which is, as it were, level to the thought, so that one goes straight on without difficulty or hindrance; as, plain language; a plain statement; a clear explanation. Perspicuous is often equivalent to plain, but plain never wholly loses the meaning of unadorned, so that we can say the style is perspicuous tho highly ornate, when we could not call it at once ornate and plain. Compare evident.
Prepositions
Clear to the mind; clear in argument; clear of or from annoyances.