CLEAR, a.

1. Open; free from obstruction; as, a clear plat of ground; the way is clear.
2. Free from clouds, or fog; serene; as, a clear day.
3. Free from foreign matter; unmixed; pure; as, clear water; clear sand; clear air; clear glass.
4. Free from any thing that creates doubt or uncertainty; apparent; evident; manifest; not obscure; conspicuous; that is, open to the mind; as, the reason is clear.
5. Unclouded; luminous; not obscured; as, a clear sun; a clear shining after a rain. – 2 Sam. xxiii.
6. Unobstructed; unobscured; as, a clear view.
7. Perspicacious; sharp; as, a clear sight.
8. Not clouded with care, or ruffled by passion; cheerful; serene; as, a clear aspect. – Milton.
9. Evident; undeniable; indisputable; as, the victory was clear. – Milton.
10. Quick to understand; prompt; acute. Mother of science, now I feel thy power / Within me clear. – Milton.
11. Free from guilt or blame; innocent; unspotted; irreproachable. – 2 Cor. vii. In action faithful, and in honor clear. – Pope.
12. Free from bias; unprepossessed; not preoccupied; impartial; as, a clear judgment. – Sidney.
13. Free from debt, or obligation; not liable to prosecution; as, to be clear of debt or responsibility. – Gay.
14. Free from deductions, or charges; as, clear gain or profit. – Locke.
15. Not entangled; unembarrassed; free; as, the cable is clear. A ship is clear, when she is so remote from shore or other object, as to be out of danger of striking, or to have sea room sufficient.
16. Open; distinct; not jarring, or harsh; as, a clear sound; a clear voice.
17. Liberated; freed; acquitted of charges; as, a man has been tried and got clear.
18. Free from spots or any thing that disfigures; as, a clear skin. Clear is followed by from or by of. Thou shalt be clear from this my oath. – Gen. xxiv. The air is clear of damp exhalations. – Temple.

1. Plainly; not obscurely; manifestly.
2. Clean; quite; entirely; wholly; indicating entire separation; as, to cut a piece clear off; to go clear away; but in this sense its use is not elegant. Clear or in the clear, among joiners and carpenters, denotes the space within walls, or length and breadth clear or exclusive of the thickness of the wall.

1. To become free from clouds or fog; to become fair; often followed by up, off, or away; as, the sky clears; the weather clears up; it clears away; it clears off.
2. To be disengaged from incumbrances, distress or entanglements; to become free or disengaged. He that clears at once will relapse. – Bacon.

1. To make clear; to fine; to remove any thing foreign; to separate from any foul matter; to purify; to clarify; as, to clear liquors.
2. To free from obstructions; as, to clear the road.
3. To free from any thing noxious or injurious; as, to clear the ocean of pirates; to clear the land of enemies.
4. To remove any incumbrance, or embarrassment; often followed by off or away; as, to clear off debts; to clear away rubbish.
5. To free; to liberate, or disengage; to exonerate; as, to clear a man from debt, obligation, or duty.
6. To cleanse; as, to clear the hands from filth; to clear the bowels.
7. To remove any thing that obscures, as clouds or fog; to make bright; as, to clear the sky; sometimes followed by up. – Dryden. Milton.
8. To free from obscurity, perplexity or ambiguity; as, to clear a question or theory; to clear up a case or point. – Prior.
9. To purge from the imputation of guilt; to justify or vindicate. How shall we clear ourselves? – Gen. xliv. That will by no means clear the guilty. – Ex. xxxiv.
10. In a legal sense, to acquit on trial, by verdict; as, the prisoner has been tried and cleared.
11. To make gain or profit, beyond all expenses and charges; as, to clear ten per cent. by a sale of goods, or by a voyage.
12. To remove wood from land; to cut down trees, remove or burn them, and prepare land for tillage or pasture; as, to clear land for wheat.
13. To leap over or pass by without touching, or failure; as, to clear a hedge or ditch. To clear a ship at the custom house, is to exhibit the documents required by law, give bonds or perform other acts requisite, and procure a permission to sail, and such papers as the law requires. To clear the land, in seamen's language, is to gain such a distance from shore, as to have open sea room, and be out of danger from the land. To clear the hold, is to empty or unload a ship. To clear a ship for action, or to clear for action, is to remove all incumbrances from the decks, and prepare for an engagement.

1. Free from opaqueness; transparent; bright; light; luminous; unclouded.
   
   

   The stream is so transparent, pure, and clear.
   Denham.

   Fair as the moon, clear as the sun.
   Canticles vi. 10.

2. Full extent; distance between extreme limits; especially; the distance between the nearest surfaces of two bodies, or the space between walls; as, a room ten feet square in the clear.
3. In a clear manner; plainly.
   
   

   Now clear I understand
   What oft . . . thoughts have searched in vain.
   Milton.

4. To render bright, transparent, or undimmed] to free from clouds.
   
   

   He sweeps the skies and clears the cloudy north.
   Dryden.

5. To become free from clouds or fog; to become fair; -- often followed by up, off, or away.
   
   

   So foul a sky clears not without a storm.
   Shak.

   Advise him to stay till the weather clears up.
   Swift.

6. Free from ambiguity or indistinctness; lucid; perspicuous; plain; evident; manifest; indubitable.
   
   

   One truth is clear; whatever is, is right.
   Pope.

7. Without limitation; wholly; quite; entirely; as, to cut a piece clear off.
8. To free from impurities; to clarify; to cleanse.
9. To disengage one's self from incumbrances, distress, or entanglements; to become free.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   He that clears at once will relapse; for finding himself out of straits, he will revert to his customs; but he that cleareth by degrees induceth a habit of frugality.
   Bacon.

10. Able to perceive clearly; keen; acute; penetrating; discriminating; as, a clear intellect; a clear head.
    
    

    Mother of science! now I feel thy power
    Within me clear, not only to discern
    Things in their causes, but to trace the ways
    Of highest agents.
    Milton.

11. To free from obscurity or ambiguity; to relive of perplexity; to make perspicuous.
    
    

    Many knotty points there are
    Which all discuss, but few can clear.
    Prior.

12. To make exchanges of checks and bills, and settle balances, as is done in a clearing house.
13. Not clouded with passion; serene; cheerful.
    
    

    With a countenance as clear
    As friendship wears at feasts.
    Shak.

14. To render more quick or acute, as the understanding; to make perspicacious.
    
    

    Our common prints would clear up their understandings.
    Addison

15. To obtain a clearance; as, the steamer cleared for Liverpool to-day.
    
    

    To clear out, to go or run away; to depart. [Colloq.]

16. Easily or distinctly heard; audible; canorous.
    
    

    Hark! the numbers soft and clear
    Gently steal upon the ear.
    Pope.

17. To free from impediment or incumbrance, from defilement, or from anything injurious, useless, or offensive; as, to clear land of trees or brushwood, or from stones; to clear the sight or the voice; to clear one's self from debt; -- often used with of, off, away, or out.
    
    

    Clear your mind of cant.
    Dr. Johnson.

    A statue lies hid in a block of marble; and the art of the statuary only clears away the superfluous matter.
    Addison.

18. Without mixture; entirely pure; as, clear sand.
19. To free from the imputation of guilt; to justify, vindicate, or acquit; -- often used with from before the thing imputed.
    
    

    I . . . am sure he will clear me from partiality.
    Dryden.

    How! wouldst thou clear rebellion?
    Addison.

20. Without defect or blemish, such as freckles or knots; as, a clear complexion; clear lumber.
21. To leap or pass by, or over, without touching or failure; as, to clear a hedge; to clear a reef.
22. Free from guilt or stain; unblemished.
    
    

    Statesman, yet friend to truth! in soul sincere,
    In action faithful, and in honor clear.
    Pope.

23. To gain without deduction; to net.
    
    

    The profit which she cleared on the cargo.
    Macaulay.

    To clear a ship at the customhouse, to exhibit the documents required by law, give bonds, or perform other acts requisite, and procure a permission to sail, and such papers as the law requires. -- To clear a ship for action, or To clear for action (Naut.), to remove incumbrances from the decks, and prepare for an engagement. -- To clear the land (Naut.), to gain such a distance from shore as to have sea room, and be out of danger from the land. -- To clear hawse (Naut.), to disentangle the cables when twisted. -- To clear up, to explain; to dispel, as doubts, cares or fears.

24. Without diminution; in full; net; as, clear profit.
    
    

    I often wished that I had clear,
    For life, six hundred pounds a-year.
    Swift.

25. Free from impediment or obstruction; unobstructed; as, a clear view; to keep clear of debt.
    
    

    My companion . . . left the way clear for him.
    Addison.

26. Free from embarrassment; detention, etc.
    
    

    The cruel corporal whispered in my ear,
    Five pounds, if rightly tipped, would set me clear.
    Gay.

    Clear breach. See under Breach, n., 4. -- Clear days (Law.), days reckoned from one day to another, excluding both the first and last day; as, from Sunday to Sunday there are six clear days. -- Clear stuff, boards, planks, etc., free from knots.

    Syn. -- Manifest; pure; unmixed; pellucid; transparent; luminous; obvious; visible; plain; evident; apparent; distinct; perspicuous. See Manifest.