Part 279

5. Easily or distinctly heard; audible; canorous.

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

6. Without mixture; entirely pure; as, clear sand.

7. Without defect or blemish, such as freckles or knots; as, a clear complexion; clear lumber.

8. Free from guilt or stain; unblemished.

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

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

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

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

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

11. 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.

Clear (klēr), n. (Carp.) 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.

Clear, adv. 1. In a clear manner; plainly.

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

2. Without limitation; wholly; quite; entirely; as, to cut a piece clear off.

Clear, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cleared (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Clearing.] 1. To render bright, transparent, or undimmed; to free from clouds.

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

2. To free from impurities; to clarify; to cleanse.

3. 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.

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

Our common prints would clear up their understandings. Addison

5. 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.