Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - clean out

1. If you clean out something such as a cupboard, room, or container, you take everything out of it and clean the inside of it thoroughly. Mr. Wall asked if I would help him clean out the bins... If you are using the same pan, clean it out. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P 2. If someone cleans you out, they take all the money and valuables you have. If they clean out a place, they take everything of value that is in it. (INFORMAL) I’m sure the burglars waited until my insurance claim was through and came back to clean me out again... When they first captured the port, they virtually cleaned out its warehouses. PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V P n (not pron)