unclearedadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈklɪəd/, /(ˌ)ʌŋˈklɪəd/, U.S. /ˌənˈklɪ(ə)rd/ 1. Not freed from impurities; not made clear or pure.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > pollution or defilement > [adjective] > not purified
unpureda1398
unpurgeda1400
unpurified1537
unclarified1574
uncleared1589
undefecated1812
1589 J. Banister Antidotarie Chyrurg. 263 Cerae nouae sordidae (that is soft & vnclered) q.s. to the forming of the plaister.
1830 M. Donovan Domest. Econ. II. vii. 343 It appears to me that uncleared coffee has a less agreeable taste than the same quality if transparent.
1882 E. M. Clark tr. L. Brisse 366 Menus & 1200 Recipes 71 Cook your fowl in uncleared stock after the vegetables have been put in.
1920 F. E. Stewart Lessons in Cookery IV. ii. 16 Cleared broth has less food value than uncleared broth.
1990 I. Mieck in P. Brimblecombe & C. Pfister Silent Countdown 75 The clearing station stopped working in spring 1988 because of the high tide and let all the uncleared water flow into the Rhine.
2. Not explained or resolved; not made obvious or intelligible. Also with up.
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the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > insecure knowledge, uncertainty > questionable state or quality > state of being unprovable > [adjective] > not investigated or explained
undiscovereda1542
uncleared1592
uncertain1617
indeterminate1626
uncircumstantial1646
unfathomed1659
unexcussed1660
unanalysed1754
uncircumstanced1766
unaccreditated1806
unelucidateda1832
undescribed1852
1592 R. Cosin Conspiracie for Pretended Reformation 73 It therefore seemeth requisite, that this point be not left vncleared.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Indecision, an vndecision; a doubtfull, vndetermined, or vncleered state of things.
1657 G. Hutcheson Expos. John xii. 248/1 Christs words..should be..understood; Therefore John thinks it needful not to leave this one word uncleared.
1708 S. Clarke Third Def. Argument 34 Why is this important Difficulty left uncleared?
1753 ‘W. Bingfield’ Trav. II. xi. 127 She..could not submit to leave such a Blemish upon her Honour behind her, uncleared up to them.
1827 J. Bentham Rationale Judicial Evid. II. iii. xviii. 405 A repugnancy, which, for want of cross-examination, remains uncleared up.
1861 F. W. Robinson Under Spell III. 237 That would necessitate another long night of suspense, with doubts ‘uncleared’.
1913 Jrnl. Royal Asiatic Soc. Apr. 261 Until a complete copy of the work is discovered, the mystery is likely to remain uncleared.
1998 T. Hiss in E. Ranney et al. Prairie Passage Prol. 9/1 Uncleared-up misunderstandings..take up residence somewhere just beyond our awareness.
3.
a. Of a debt, account, etc.: not cleared or settled; undischarged.
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society > trade and finance > payment > payment of debt > [adjective] > not paid or discharged
unpaid1484
undischarged1585
uncleared1620
unliquidated1675
unsettled1811
unliquidate1818
unrepaid1890
1620 Declar. Supplies 14 in Declar. State Colonie Virginia (new ed.) Summes paid to other men, whose Accounts hang yet vncleared.
a1658 J. Durham Blessednesse of Death (1681) iii. 45 Accounts lye over uncleared and unadjusted.
1759 H. H. Kames Memorial Ld. Kaims & Trustees R. Glendinning 21 He would not be secure of drawing his Money as long as the inhibiting Debt subsists uncleared.
1857 F. R. Lees Hundred Objections to Maine Law 53 The growing length of uncleared scores brought matters to a crisis.
1883 Times 29 Jan. 9/3 The Irish Land Courts are still busy over their uncleared arrears.
1965 G. C. Herring Exper. Foreign Aid ii. 50 By the early fall of 1941 Defense Aid Reports had on its hands more than twelve hundred uncleared requisitions.
2013 B. N. Rao Mapping Tribal Econ. v. 93 Most of the land was acquired by non-tribal people against arrears of the uncleared debts of the tribal people.
b. Of a cheque, payment, etc.: not having passed through a clearing house and been paid into the payee's account.
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1864 Daily News 16 Mar. 7/4 The cash really in hand was but 29,680l. 4s. 5d. the rest of the amount consisting of uncleared cheques.
1911 M.A.P. 19 Aug. 226/1 The Treasury..greatly dislikes having to keep its books open for uncleared payments.
1980 Econ. & Polit. Weekly 15 138/1 The banks utilised the opportunity afforded by the backlog of uncleared cheques..to window-dress their accounts.
2003 Washington Post (Nexis) 22 Feb. a24 When my current bank offered online banking, I asked if it reported uncleared payments.
4. Not cleared of unwanted objects or something which encumbers; (of land) spec. not cleared of trees. Also of an unwanted object: not removed.
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the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land suitable for cultivation > [adjective] > cleared > not cleared or overgrown
unclean?1440
weedy?1440
spare1508
unweeded1604
uncleared1623
twitchy1652
uncured1719
turfy1733
mushroomed1886
1623 Draft Petition Commissioners in V. A. Ives Rich Papers: Lett. Bermuda (1984) 268 The loss of this redounds to themselves..who doe still lett their Landes lie uncleared & unmanured.
1650 E. Williams Virginia sig. A4 Old Planters knowing the benefit thence arising, should..seeke new uncleared grounds for themselves.
1700 All Laws of Maryland 91 Always having a regard to leave a proportionable part both for quality and quantity of the uncleared Land.
1744 F. Moore Voy. Georgia 97 These uncleared lots are a nuisance to their neighbors.
1773 J. Hawkesworth Acct. Voy. Southern Hemisphere II. i. v. 60 There was neither gnat nor musquito,..which perhaps is more than can be said of any other uncleared country.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 391 The water..is conveyed in a rut perpetually descending along the whole line of the uncleared moss.
1822 J. Flint Lett. from Amer. 239 In the uncleared woods, which are not suitable pastures for sheep.
1882 Cent. Mag. Mar. 666/2 The country around the Schuykill remained wild and uncleared.
1911 A. Train Confessions of Artemas Quibble ix. 195 I could see the uncleared table, littered over with half-empty bottles and glasses.
1964 Times 11 June 13/6 The ugly blotches on prospectors' maps..denote still uncleared minefields.
2005 Human Ecol. 33 66 The boundaries were fixed only on three sides, leaving uncleared forest on the frontier side.
5. Not freed from the imputation of guilt or blame.
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the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > guilt > [adjective] > not cleared
unclearc1390
unpurged1508
unreprievable1593
unjustified1640
unexcusedc1650
uncleared1659
society > morality > moral evil > guilt > [adjective] > not free from guilt > not cleared of a charge or imputation
unpurged1508
unjustified1640
uncleared1659
1659 Censures of Church Revived 70 Stand yet uncleared of suspition of novelty.
1669 G. Hutcheson Expos. Job xvi. 238/2 Saints ought to submit to go out of the world uncleared, and under a cloud, if it be Gods will.
1724 R. Savage Sir T. Overbury iv. i. 35 To fly, wou'd be, to leave my Fame unclear'd.
1822 Examiner 22 Dec. 803/1 It is indeed sickening..to keep an innocent man immured within a gaol..with his character uncleared!
1884 Standard 28 Oct. 2/7 The Government preferred to leave uncleared the reputation of the man who was judicially murdered.
1903 Westm. Gaz. 26 Jan. 8/2 Were the Crown to..release the prisoner, he would for ever remain an ‘uncleared’ man.
1962 Sandusky (Ohio) Reg. 27 Dec. 12/7 Psychiatric reports from the Toledo State Hospital are being awaited on one of the two uncleared suspects.
2013 Observer (Nexis) 23 June (Review section) 7 The former millionaire fugitive is in the hospital wing with a heart condition... His name remains uncleared.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1589