or clear off, verbal phr. (colloquial).—1. To depart.
1825. NEAL, Brother Jonathan, II., 151. Like many a hero before him, he CLEARED OUT.
1861. Harper’s Monthly, Aug. You’ll have to CLEAR OUT, and that pretty quick or I’ll be after you with a sharp stick.
1885. Truth, 28 May, 1847. I would have the Canal under the control of an International Commission … and then I would CLEAR OUT of the country.
1888. J. RICKABY, Moral Philosophy, 205. To warn the visitor to CLEAR OFF.
2. (popular).—To rid of cash; to ruin; to ‘clean out.’
1849–50. THACKERAY, Pendennis. The luck turned from that minute … came away CLEARED OUT, leaving that infernal check behind me.
1884. Illustrated London News, Christmas Number, p. 6, col. 2. He CLEARED you OUT that night, old man.
