Phrasal verbs with clean Clean up means to make a place tidy. The kitchen is a mess. I need to clean up. Can you help me clean up after dinner? But it can also mean: to make a lot of money He cleaned up at the casino. It also means to fix your life She used to party hard, but she cleaned up her life. Clean off means to remove something from a surface. I cleaned the mud off my shoes. He cleaned off the table before dinner. Clean up after means to tidy what someone else left. I always clean up aft