cleaner English · revision 15198

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=mid-15th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkliː.nə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkli.nɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an agent noun from the verb [[clean]], formed with [[-er]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who or that which cleans: the mid-15th century in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster gives 1720,^(MWU 2024) and the OED's first quotation is from before 1792.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A tool or machine for cleaning is from 1874,^(OED 1989) and a shop that cleans clothes, a dry-cleaner, from 1873.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''To take someone to the cleaners'', to get all their money, is from 1921.^(Etymonline) In biology a cleaner is a small marine animal that cleans larger ones of parasites, from 1955.^(OED 1989) In West Yorkshire a cleaner was a small tool for cleaning the sand out of moulds.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-15th century – one who cleans.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1873 – a dry-cleaning shop.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1921 – take to the cleaners.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1955 – a cleaner fish.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person whose work is cleaning rooms, buildings or the like.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A device, machine or [[chemical]] substance used for cleaning.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[dry-cleaning]] shop, often in the plural.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[air cleaner]]

+ * [[dry cleaner]]

+ * [[pipe cleaner]]

+ * [[street cleaner]]

+ * [[vacuum cleaner]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cleanser]]

+ * [[clean]]

+ * [[cleanse]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}