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Cleanly vs Spruce - What's the difference?

cleanly | spruce | Related terms |

Cleanly is a related term of spruce.


In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between cleanly and spruce

is that cleanly is (obsolete) adroit; dexterous; artful while spruce is (obsolete) prussia.

As an adjective cleanly

is being habitually clean, practising good hygiene.

As an adverb cleanly

is in a clean way.

As a noun spruce is

(obsolete) prussia.

cleanly

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) clenly, clenliche, clanly, from (etyl) .

Alternative forms

* (l)

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • being habitually clean, practising good hygiene
  • * 1653 , Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler
    • I'll now lead you to an honest ale-house, where we shall find a cleanly room, lavender in the windows, and twenty ballads stuck about the wall.
  • * Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World
    • There were some flat slabs of rock in the centre, with an excellent well close by, and there we sat in cleanly comfort while we made our first plans for the invasion of this new country.
  • (obsolete) Cleansing; fitted to remove moisture; dirt, etc.
  • * Prior
    • With cleanly powder dry their hair.
  • (obsolete) adroit; dexterous; artful
  • * Spenser
    • Through his fine handling and his cleanly play.
    Derived terms
    * cleanliness * uncleanly
    Antonyms
    * uncleanly * dirty

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) clenly, clenli, clenliche, from (etyl) .

    Adverb

    (en-adv)
  • in a clean way
  • neatly
    • He was very cleanly dressed. — Dickens.
  • not causing a mess or unnecessary damage
    • We agreed to break off our relationship cleanly .
    Fortunately, the bullet passed cleanly through your shoulder.
  • innocently; without stain
    • (Shakespeare)
  • adroitly; dexterously
    • (Middleton)

    spruce

    English

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • Any of various large coniferous evergreen trees from the genus Picea , found in northern temperate and boreal regions; originally and more fully spruce fir.
  • (uncountable) The wood of a spruce.
  • (used attributively) Made of the wood of the spruce.
    • That spruce table is beautiful!
  • (obsolete) Prussia leather; pruce.
  • * E. Phillips
    • Spruce , a sort of leather corruptly so called for Prussia leather.

    See also

    * (Spruce) * (Picea)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (comparable) Smart, trim, and elegant in appearance; fastidious (said of a person).
  • * 1919 ,
    • He had great neatness of person, and he continued to wear his spruce black coat and his bowler hat, always a little too small for him, in a dapper, jaunty manner.
  • * 2012 , The Economist, 13th Oct 2012, Plessey returns: Chips with everything
    • The two clean rooms, where chips are made, are sprucer than a hospital theatre.

    Verb

    (spruc)
  • To arrange neatly; tidy up.
  • ) To make oneself spruce (neat and elegant in appearance).
  • To tease.

    • Derived terms

    * (l)

    References

    *

    Anagrams

    * (l)