Sekirov Dictionary

mop up

verb 9
mop-up noun 2
forms 4

verb9

•
To clean up (liquid) with a mop, rag, sponge, or other cleaning device.
- Please mop up the spilled milk.
•
To absorb the leftovers of a dish with bread etc., in order to eat them.
- He mopped up the sauce with the bread and scarfed it down like he had been raised by wolves. — 2003
•
To consume or get rid of an excess of something.
- The function of the weak acid component of a buffer is to act as a source of H⁺ ions which can mop up any added OH⁻: HA + OH⁻ → A⁻ + H₂O — 2004
•
To clean up an area destroyed by a natural disaster or by violent activity.
- Nobody wanted to join the 'Cardigan Squad' – so-called because Child Protection officers were seen as woolly, glorified social workers that mopped up after domestics. — 2010
•
(informal) To fix problems; to correct or repair.
- After they argued, it fell to me to talk to her and try to mop up.
•
To get rid of (enemies) within a certain area.
- No good trying to charge with them. They'd just squeal and bolt, and there are more than enough of these filthy horse-boys to mop up our lot on the flat. — 1954
•
To finish something off; to apply a finishing touch
- They patch up, mop up, neaten up the halfcooked and unsatisfactory ideas they find lying around in their head. — 1998
•
To win a competition decisively.
- As more and more Red Sox drew walks and hit singles, our once insurmountable lead diminished. So, Joe Torre came out to call in his bullpen to mop up. — 2005
To pitch the final innings especially of a game that is no longer close.

mop-up noun2

The cleanup of an area by removing burning material, felling dead trees, securing logs from moving, etc.
•
[before a noun] (informal) An instance of mopping up; a cleaning or finishing off.
- We need a mop-up on aisle 3. [store intercom announcement]
- Another armored division was called in for the mop-up operation.

forms

mopped up · mopping up · mops up · mop-ups

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