clear the neighborhood
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.43 in modern English
35
Scrabble Score
20
Letters
3
Syllables
13
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To become gravitationally dominant, such that there are no other bodies of comparable size within its orbit, other than its natural satellites or those otherwise under its gravitational influence.
verb
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see clear, the, neighborhood.
Example Sentences
- "Clearing the neighborhood is one of three necessary criteria for a celestial body to be considered a planet in the Solar System, according to the definition adopted in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union."
- "He clears the neighborhood and drives toward the busier part of town, unaware he's doing fifty till he skids to meet a red light."
- "Detroit officials could have built the housing projects before they cleared the neighborhood."
- "Since 1969 the group had supported clearing the neighborhood so that a community college could be built on the land."
- "Following an unsuccessful attempt by Iraqi soldiers to clear the neighborhood on January 8, American troops prepared a full-scale offensive to assist the Iraqis."
- "To visualize how the Lower Ninth looked before the city's formal campaign to clear the neighborhood, you had to understand that it no longer resembled an urban or even suburban environment."
Inflected Forms
clears the neighborhood (present, singular)
clearing the neighborhood (participle, present)
cleared the neighborhood (participle, past)
cleared the neighborhood (past)
clear the neighbourhood (alternative)
Phrases
which in 2006 was ruled not to be a planet
because it had not cleared its neighborhood