spring cleaning

noun — 2 senses

spring cleaning

noun
1

A systematic cleaning of a residence at the end of winter.

  • The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of white-wash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms.1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, London: Methuen, page 1:
2

Broadly, Figuratively A systematic cleaning, reorganization, or weeding out of a system.

  • I spent the whole day in my head / Do a little spring cleanin' / I'm always too busy dreamin'2020, Mac Miller, “Good News”, in Circles:
Derived terms
spring-clean

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.