clean slate

noun

: a person's record (as from a school or a job) that shows no evidence of any problems, broken rules, etc. : a clean record

Everyone who comes to this school starts with a clean slate.

Examples of clean slate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web This year, Young has a clean slate after a disappointing rookie season. —

Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 15 May 2024 If tasks have piled up, you might be tempted to abandon ship and start all over with a clean slate, even though that would come with its own set of pros and cons. —

Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 16 Apr. 2024 Still, that daily clean slate makes phthalates and bisphenols actionable, says Hua. —

Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 25 Apr. 2024 Briggs, who spoke prior to Smith’s departure for Portland, said the recent vacancies have given the department and the city something of a clean slate. —

Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024 One season ends, and there is a mourning period, but each new season brings a clean slate upon which dreams can be projected. —

Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2024 Kansas City Royals reliever James McArthur needed a clean slate. —

Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 8 Mar. 2024 With a clean slate comes the opportunity to turn the page, change narratives or alter the course of a franchise. —

Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 13 Feb. 2024 In director Yorgos Lanthimos and writer Tony McNamara’s follow-up to their Oscar-winning film The Favourite, Stone plays Bella Baxter, a woman given a clean slate via an experimental procedure from a mad scientist of sorts, Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). —

Jen Juneau, Peoplemag, 8 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clean slate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.