As clean as a whistle là gì

1. Completely free of dirt and neat in appearance. This house needs to be as clean as a whistle before my mother-in-law gets here. I spent the morning scrubbing my bike until it was clean as a whistle. Ella was sitting at my desk while I was out on vacation, and she left it clean as a whistle, thank goodness.

2. Well-behaved and not involved in illegal or questionable activities. You can trust George, he's a good kid—as clean as a whistle. I don't have a criminal record, I'm clean as a whistle. I hate to break it you, Paul, but you're clean as a whistle, and Betsy has a thing for bad boys.

3. Entirely; totally. The handle just broke off, clean as a whistle! I can't believe it! Well, here's what's left of the shovel. As you can see, the shovel part just broke off, clean as a whistle, as soon as I started digging. Yes, you did break that piece off as clean as a whistle, but it's nothing a little glue can't fix.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

Completely, entirely, thoroughly, as in He chopped off the branch, clean as a whistle. The allusion in this simile is unclear. It may have been a replacement for the 18th-century clear as a whistle, which alluded to the pure, clean sound of a whistle [it has few overtones]. However, it was adopted to describe something thoroughly done. [Early 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

1. If someone is as clean as a whistle, they have done nothing immoral or illegal. `There is no sex, drugs or rock 'n' roll. His private life is as clean as a whistle,' says McSmith. He emerged from this nasty, dishonest campaign with his reputation as clean as a whistle.

2. If something is as clean as a whistle, it is completely free from dirt. It leaves your face feeling clean as a whistle but not bone-dry.

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

Thoroughly or neatly done; also, pure, unsoiled. The early nineteenth-century use of this term, which appears in William Carr’s The Dialect of Craven [1828] as a proverbial simile meaning “wholly” or “entirely,” was in such guise as “Head taken off as clean as a whistle” [W. S. Mayo, Kaloolah, 1849]. Why this should be analogous to a whistle is not certain. In the eighteenth century the simile was “clear as a whistle,” presumably referring to the pure sound produced by a whistle, relatively free of overtones. From “clear” and “pure” to “clean” is not so very far. Another theory holds that “whistle” came from “whittle”—that is, clean as wood is after being whittled—but this analogy seems less likely.

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer

1. Completely free of dirt and neat in appearance. This house needs to be as clean as a whistle before my mother-in-law gets here. I spent the morning scrubbing my bike until it was clean as a whistle. Ella was sitting at my desk while I was out on vacation, and she left it clean as a whistle, thank goodness.

2. Well-behaved and not involved in illegal or questionable activities. You can trust George, he's a good kid—as clean as a whistle. I don't have a criminal record, I'm clean as a whistle. I hate to break it you, Paul, but you're clean as a whistle, and Betsy has a thing for bad boys.

3. Entirely; totally. The handle just broke off, clean as a whistle! I can't believe it! Well, here's what's left of the shovel. As you can see, the shovel part just broke off, clean as a whistle, as soon as I started digging. Yes, you did break that piece off as clean as a whistle, but it's nothing a little glue can't fix.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

Completely, entirely, thoroughly, as in He chopped off the branch, clean as a whistle. The allusion in this simile is unclear. It may have been a replacement for the 18th-century clear as a whistle, which alluded to the pure, clean sound of a whistle [it has few overtones]. However, it was adopted to describe something thoroughly done. [Early 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

1. If someone is as clean as a whistle, they have done nothing immoral or illegal. `There is no sex, drugs or rock 'n' roll. His private life is as clean as a whistle,' says McSmith. He emerged from this nasty, dishonest campaign with his reputation as clean as a whistle.

2. If something is as clean as a whistle, it is completely free from dirt. It leaves your face feeling clean as a whistle but not bone-dry.

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

Thoroughly or neatly done; also, pure, unsoiled. The early nineteenth-century use of this term, which appears in William Carr’s The Dialect of Craven [1828] as a proverbial simile meaning “wholly” or “entirely,” was in such guise as “Head taken off as clean as a whistle” [W. S. Mayo, Kaloolah, 1849]. Why this should be analogous to a whistle is not certain. In the eighteenth century the simile was “clear as a whistle,” presumably referring to the pure sound produced by a whistle, relatively free of overtones. From “clear” and “pure” to “clean” is not so very far. Another theory holds that “whistle” came from “whittle”—that is, clean as wood is after being whittled—but this analogy seems less likely.

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer