Clear \Clear\ (kl[=e]r), a. [Compar. {Clearer} (-[~e]r); superl.
   {Clearest}.] [OE. cler, cleer, OF. cler, F. clair, fr.L.
   clarus, clear, bright, loud, distinct, renowned; perh. akin
   to L. clamare to call, E. claim. Cf. {Chanticleer},
   {Clairvoyant}, {Claret}, {Clarify}.]
   1. Free from opaqueness; transparent; bright; light;
      luminous; unclouded.
      
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            The stream is so transparent, pure, and clear.
                                                  --Denham.
      
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            Fair as the moon, clear as the sun.   --Canticles
                                                  vi. 10.
      
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   2. Free from ambiguity or indistinctness; lucid; perspicuous;
      plain; evident; manifest; indubitable.
      
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            One truth is clear; whatever is, is right. --Pope.
      
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   3. Able to perceive clearly; keen; acute; penetrating;
      discriminating; as, a clear intellect; a clear head.
      
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            Mother of science! now I feel thy power
            Within me clear, not only to discern
            Things in their causes, but to trace the ways
            Of highest agents.                    --Milton.
      
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   4. Not clouded with passion; serene; cheerful.
      
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            With a countenance as clear
            As friendship wears at feasts.        --Shak.
      
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   5. Easily or distinctly heard; audible; canorous.
      
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            Hark! the numbers soft and clear
            Gently steal upon the ear.            --Pope.
      
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   6. Without mixture; entirely pure; as, clear sand.
      
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   7. Without defect or blemish, such as freckles or knots; as,
      a clear complexion; clear lumber.
      
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   8. Free from guilt or stain; unblemished.
      
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            Statesman, yet friend to truth! in soul sincere,
            In action faithful, and in honor clear. --Pope.
      
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   9. Without diminution; in full; net; as, clear profit.
      
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            I often wished that I had clear,
            For life, six hundred pounds a-year.  --Swift
      .
      
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   10. Free from impediment or obstruction; unobstructed; as, a
       clear view; to keep clear of debt.
       
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             My companion . . . left the way clear for him.
                                                  --Addison.
       
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   11. Free from embarrassment; detention, etc.
       
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             The cruel corporal whispered in my ear,
             Five pounds, if rightly tipped, would set me clear.
                                                  --Gay.
       
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   {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}.
        
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Clear \Clear\ (kl[=e]r), 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.
   
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Clear \Clear\, adv.
   1. In a clear manner; plainly.
      
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            Now clear I understand
            What oft . . . thoughts have searched in vain.
                                                  --Milton.
      
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   2. Without limitation; wholly; quite; entirely; as, to cut a
      piece clear off.
      
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Clear \Clear\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cleared}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Clearing}.]
   1. To render bright, transparent, or undimmed; to free from
      clouds.
      
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            He sweeps the skies and clears the cloudy north.
                                                  --Dryden.
      
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   2. To free from impurities; to clarify; to cleanse.
      
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   3. To free from obscurity or ambiguity; to relive of
      perplexity; to make perspicuous.
      
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            Many knotty points there are
            Which all discuss, but few can clear. --Prior.
      
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   4. To render more quick or acute, as the understanding; to
      make perspicacious.
      
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            Our common prints would clear up their
            understandings.                       --Addison
      
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   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.
      
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            Clear your mind of cant.              --Dr. Johnson.
      
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            A statue lies hid in a block of marble; and the art
            of the statuary only clears away the superfluous
            matter.                               --Addison.
      
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   6. To free from the imputation of guilt; to justify,
      vindicate, or acquit; -- often used with from before the
      thing imputed.
      
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            I . . . am sure he will clear me from partiality.
                                                  --Dryden.
      
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            How! wouldst thou clear rebellion?    --Addison.
      
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   7. To leap or pass by, or over, without touching or failure;
      as, to clear a hedge; to clear a reef.
      
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   8. To gain without deduction; to net.
      
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            The profit which she cleared on the cargo.
                                                  --Macaulay.
      
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   {To clear a ship at the customhouse}, to exhibit the
      documents required by law, give bonds, or perform other
      acts requisite, and procure a permission to sail, and such
      papers as the law requires.

   {To clear a ship for action}, or {To clear for action}
      (Naut.), to remove incumbrances from the decks, and
      prepare for an engagement.

   {To clear the land} (Naut.), to gain such a distance from
      shore as to have sea room, and be out of danger from the
      land.

   {To clear hawse} (Naut.), to disentangle the cables when
      twisted.

   {To clear up}, to explain; to dispel, as doubts, cares or
      fears.
      
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Clear \Clear\ (kl[=e]r), v. i.
   1. To become free from clouds or fog; to become fair; -- of
      the weather; -- often followed by up, off, or away.
      
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            So foul a sky clears not without a storm. --Shak.
      
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            Advise him to stay till the weather clears up.
                                                  --Swift.
      
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   2. To become free from turbidity; -- of solutions or
      suspensions of liquids; as, the salt has not completely
      dissolved until the suspension clears up; when
      refrigerated, the juice may become cloudy, but when warmed
      to room temperature, it clears up again.
      [PJC]

   3. To disengage one's self from incumbrances, distress, or
      entanglements; to become free. [Obs.]
      
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            He that clears at once will relapse; for finding
            himself out of straits, he will revert to his
            customs; but he that cleareth by degrees induceth a
            habit of frugality.                   --Bacon.
      
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   3. (Banking) To make exchanges of checks and bills, and
      settle balances, as is done in a clearing house.
      
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   4. To obtain a clearance; as, the steamer cleared for
      Liverpool to-day.
      
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   {To clear out}, to go or run away; to depart. [Colloq.]
      
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