Clear out/up

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User_gary  #426496  Wed, 03 Oct 07 07:13 AM

If we clear out the spare room, you can use it as a study.

If I replace "clear out" with "clear up", will the meaning of this sentence remain same?

In my dictionary, both "clear out" and "clear up" have the same meaning as  "to remove the unwanted things and make the place tidy".......

  
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Mister Micawber  #426501  Wed, 03 Oct 07 07:30 AM

'Clear up' does not work so well here, Gary.  In spite of your dictionary, clear up = clear completely, while clear out = Clear by removal.  Since you are speaking of a room, which is a sort of container, clear out is the appropriate phrasal verb.

  
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