clearances

Noun

clearance (countable and uncountable, plural clearances)

1. The act of clearing or something (such as a space) cleared.
   • In conclusion, it must be reiterated that effective snow clearance is largely a matter of forward planning and departmental co-operation.1960 January, M. Harbottle, “Maintaining Services after Heavy Snowfalls”, in Railway Magazine, page 12
2. The distance between two moving objects, especially between parts of a machine
3. The height or width of a tunnel, bridge or other passage, or the distance between a vehicle and the walls or roof of such passage; a gap, headroom.
   • Clearance on these freeway overpasses is limited, so big trucks must detour.
4. A permission for a vehicle to proceed, or for a person to travel.
   • The plane got clearance from air traffic control, and we were off.
5. A permission to have access to sensitive or secret documents or other information.
   • In a thread called “Calm Before the Storm”, and in subsequent posts, Q established his legend as a government insider with top security clearance who knew the truth about a secret struggle for power involving Donald Trump, the “deep state”, Robert Mueller, the Clintons, pedophile rings, and other...2018 July 31, Julia Carrie Wong, “What is QAnon? Explaining the bizarre rightwing conspiracy theory”, in The Guardian
6. A permission to use something, usually intellectual property, that is legally, but not otherwise, protected.

See all 15 meanings of clearance