housecleaning — ☆ housecleaning [hous′klēn΄iŋ ] n. 1. the cleaning of the furniture, floors, woodwork, etc. of a house 2. a getting rid of superfluous things, undesirable conditions, etc. houseclean vi., vt … English World dictionary
housecleaning — noun 1. (figurative) the act of reforming by the removal of unwanted personnel or practices or conditions more housecleaning is in store at other accounting firms many employees were discharged in a general housecleaning by the new owners • Usage … Useful english dictionary
housecleaning — noun Collectively, the tasks involved with cleaning a house; the practice of cleaning a house. If you do not keep up with the housecleaning, you will soon have a huge mess … Wiktionary
housecleaning — American the elimination of undesirable or embarrassing items The imagery comes from the annual major assault that used to be made in the spring on carpets, curtains, etc. It refers to an investigation and subsequent reorganization in an … How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms
housecleaning — noun a general reorganising of a business ● She has mainly been performing housecleaning measures … Dictionary of banking and finance
housecleaning — noun see houseclean … New Collegiate Dictionary
housecleaning — (Roget s Thesaurus II) noun Informal. A thorough or drastic reorganization: overhaul, shakeup. See CHANGE … English dictionary for students
housecleaning — n. cleaning of a housev. clean a house, tidy up a house … English contemporary dictionary
housecleaning — house•clean•ing [[t]ˈhaʊsˌkli nɪŋ[/t]] n. 1) the thorough cleaning of a house or apartment and its furnishings 2) the reforming of an organization, system, or the like by eliminating personnel or revising methods of operation • Etymology: 1860–65 … From formal English to slang
Political Housecleaning — Reinhard Heydrich’s euphemism for the orders given to the Einsatzkommandos to eliminate the clergy, the aristocracy, the intelligentsia, and the Jews, following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 … Historical dictionary of the Holocaust