Word.ws English Dictionary

clearing the decks

clearing the decks is the present participle and gerund of clear the decks.

Meaning of clear the decks

Verb

clear the decks (third-person singular simple present clears the decks, present participle clearing the decks, simple past and past participle cleared the decks)

  1. To remove, or fasten, all loose material, or partitions prior to a naval engagement.
  2. (broadly, figuratively) To prepare for action.

Questions about clearing the decks

What is clearing the decks the present participle and gerund of?
Clearing the decks is the present participle and gerund of clear the decks.

Words near clearing the decks in the dictionary

  1. clearing saw
  2. clearing saws
  3. clearing station
  4. clearing stations
  5. clearing the air
  6. clearing the decks
  7. clearing the market
  8. clearing the neighborhood
  9. clearing the table
  10. clearing up
  11. clearinghouse

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: clearing the decks (page history and authors); clear the decks (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “clearing the decks.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clearing_the_decks. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.