spring clean
spring clean — noun
1. a session of thorough cleaning for a house or other indoor space, during which y
a session of thorough cleaning for a house or other indoor space, during which you clean every area — even those you normally skip during your usual routine.
Every spring, the Lee family does a spring clean before the New Year celebrations.
time adverbial: 'every spring' — typical seasonal framing
Sofia gave the kitchen a proper spring clean at the weekend, scrubbing every surface.
collocation: give + [place] + a + spring clean
Ahmed's team did a spring clean of the workshop, scrubbing floors and clearing out old stock.
A thorough spring clean of the whole house took the Watanabe family two full days.
Elena helped her grandmother give the attic a thorough spring clean during her visit.
- deep clean
Similar level of thoroughness, but can be done any time of year; less culturally specific
- top-to-bottom cleaning
Emphasises the thoroughness and coverage of every area
- quick tidy
A light, surface-level organisation, not a thorough clean
文法句型
do/give/have + a + spring clean
spring clean + of + [place]
用法筆記
Commonly appears in the patterns 'do/have/give something a spring clean' or 'have a spring clean of somewhere'. The object of cleaning is typically a physical indoor space — house, flat, office, garage, or room.
常見錯誤
2. a session of organising a collection of things — such as digital files, document
a session of organising a collection of things — such as digital files, documents, or possessions — by going through them and getting rid of what you no longer need.
Keiko did a spring clean of her email inbox and unsubscribed from old newsletters.
collocation: do a spring clean of [digital space]
The marketing team held a digital spring clean, deleting old files and renaming folders.
compound modifier: 'digital spring clean' — typical for digital organisation
Diego gave his music collection a spring clean, removing albums he no longer listened to.
Ananya's spring clean of the filing cabinet uncovered contracts from three years ago.
A spring clean of the garage helped Mr Chen sort through stored belongings and throw away what was broken.
- clear-out
Focuses on discarding rather than organising; less structured than a spring clean
- decluttering session
Emphasises removing excess items; can apply to any space, not just seasonal
文法句型
do/have + a + spring clean + of + [collection of things]
用法筆記
The object of the organisation is typically digital or abstract — emails, computer files, documents, or personal collections. Distinguish from sense 1, where the focus is on physically cleaning a space rather than sorting and discarding.