clean off, etc

Question

I have a question about a few phrasal verbs. "clean off", "clean up". I 'd like to know the difference. I didn't not find a definition for "clean off" in on-line dictionaries.

"Pick up your room" Is this a correct sentence? "Pick up your clothes." Does "pick up" have the same meaning in the two sentences? Thank you.

Danyoo · Accepted Answer

Clean up refers to a general act. You can say the following:
1. Please clean up your room.
2. Why don't you clean up your act and start doing something useful.
3. I will let you have a party as long as you promise to clean up afterwards.

Clean off refers to a specific thing. You can say the following:
1. Mom, could you help me to clean off the red stain in my dress?
2. Sir, do you have anything that can clean off the ketchup from my shirt?
3. Make sure you clean off the grease from the stove top after you are done cooking.

"Pick up your room" is often used in spoken English. But it actually means "pick up (stuff laying around) in your room." And yes, "pick up" has the same meaning in your example sentences.

SeroMack · Answer

And what about this adverbial/adjectival use of clean off?

"(...) huge finger scythes are also just aces for tearing the human face clean off."

What does it mean in the sentence?

Terryxpress · Answer

...and in colloquial speech, where 'clean' is used to emphasize the completeness of some reported action:

He was knocked clean off his feet by...
It bit his finger clean off!

clean off, etc

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