清理 meaning in English

qīnglǐ

to clear up; to tidy up

HSK 5verb22 strokes

Meaning of 清理

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

qīnglǐ

to clear up
to tidy up
to dispose of

How to use 清理

清理 is used for physically clearing out a space, like a room, a desk, or a phone's storage, and also for sorting out accounts or getting rid of old stock. Example: 我周末要清理一下房间。(Wǒ zhōumò yào qīnglǐ yíxià fángjiān.) I need to clear out my room this weekend.

清 (qīng) means clear or clean, and 理 (lǐ) means to put in order. Clean things out and put the rest in order, and you have 清理 (qīnglǐ), to clear up.

Common mistake: Learners often use 清理 where 打扫 (dǎsǎo) fits better. 打扫 is everyday sweeping and dusting, while 清理 stresses removing unwanted things or sorting things out. Also keep the first tone on 清 (qīng), not the second tone of 情 (qíng).

清理 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

清qīng理lǐ的de时shí候hòu，我wǒ们men看kàn到dào了le些xiē他tā的de东dōng西xī。

While cleaning, we saw some of his things.

你nǐ必bì须xū清qīng理lǐ你nǐ的de房fáng间jiān。

You need to clean your room.

汤tāng姆mǔ正zhèng在zài清qīng理lǐ花huā园yuán。

Tom is clearing the garden.

我wǒ太tài太tài刚gāng刚gāng清qīng理lǐ了le桌zhuō子zi。

My wife has just cleared the table.

我wǒ等děng一yí下xià将jiāng清qīng理lǐ厨chú房fáng。

I'll clean up the kitchen later.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

清 qīng · clear · 11 strokes

理 lǐ · texture · 11 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 清理.

清楚	qīngchu	clear; distinct
道理	dàolǐ	reason; argument
经理	jīnglǐ	manager; director
理想	lǐxiǎng	an ideal; a dream
处理	chǔlǐ	to handle; to deal with; to punish
理解	lǐjiě	to comprehend; to understand
理由	lǐyóu	reason; grounds
理论	lǐlùn	theory; to argue
管理	guǎnlǐ	to supervise; to manage
整理	zhěnglǐ	to arrange; to tidy up
合理	hélǐ	rational; reasonable; sensible; fair
理发	lǐfà	to get a haircut; to have one's hair done; to cut (sb's) hair; to give (sb) a haircut

Questions about 清理

What does 清理 mean?

清理 (qīnglǐ) means "to clear up; to tidy up" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 清理?

清理 is made of 2 characters: 清 (11 strokes), 理 (11 strokes). That is 22 strokes in total.

Is 清理 an HSK word?

Yes. 清理 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 清理 and 处理?

清理 (qīnglǐ) means to clear out or tidy up, usually by removing things. 处理 (chǔlǐ) is broader and means to handle or deal with a matter, such as a problem or a complaint.

Can 清理 be used for computers and phones?

Yes, it is very common in tech settings. People say 清理缓存 (qīnglǐ huǎncún) for clearing the cache and 清理内存 (qīnglǐ nèicún) for freeing up memory.