Clear

Clear (klēr), a. [Compar. Clearer (-ẽr); superl. Clearest.] [OE. cler, cleer, OF. cler, F. clair, fr.L. clarus, clear, bright, loud, distinct, renowned; perh. akin to L. clamare to call, E. claim. Cf. Chanticleer, Clairvoyant, Claret, Clarify.] 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.

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.

Clear (klēr), 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 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.

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 (klēr), v. i. 1. To become free from clouds or fog; to become fair; — 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 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.

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.]