clean up — make a large profit
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+informaloccasional
To earn a lot of money, especially in a short time or from a particular event.
Say it like a native
Textbook The investors earned an extremely large profit on the deal.
Native The investors absolutely cleaned up on that deal.
'Clean up' is the casual verb for making a killing; the formal paraphrase loses the buzz.
Pattern: clean up
In use
- They really cleaned up at the music festival, selling hundreds of T-shirts.money
- Some people believe that companies should not be allowed to clean up by raising prices during emergencies, as it can be unfair to customers.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ They cleaned up a lot of money.
✓ They cleaned up. / They made a lot of money.
In this sense 'clean up' stands alone (no object) — 'clean up a lot of money' mixes it with the tidying sense.
Common collocations
clean up (profit)— absolutely, on the deal, at the casino, really
Don't confuse it
Not about making something tidy—this sense is about financial success.
Related
- clean up (make clean) — Another meaning of 'clean up' is 'make clean'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.