Definitions

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective completely neat and clean
  • adjective conspicuously new

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • But after the kitchen was spic-and-span, Zach grabbed a stack of manuals that had come in the mail that afternoon, and disappeared.

    The Dark Side of Innocence Terri Cheney 2011

  • But after the kitchen was spic-and-span, Zach grabbed a stack of manuals that had come in the mail that afternoon, and disappeared.

    The Dark Side of Innocence Terri Cheney 2011

  • I consulted the fascinating study by Witold Rybczynski, Home: A Short History of an Idea, to find out the story behind the beautiful paintings and spic-and-span interiors of Dutch homes.

    Dutch Domesticity in the Golden Age Linda 2008

  • I consulted the fascinating study by Witold Rybczynski, Home: A Short History of an Idea, to find out the story behind the beautiful paintings and spic-and-span interiors of Dutch homes.

    Archive 2008-02-01 Linda 2008

  • Headquarters needed to look spic-and-span for the Life magazine shoot.

    Tom Folsom: Gangster Chic: Joey Gallo 2009

  • Enough accepted his invitation to create an inspired compromise between restaurant-style comfort -- table service, spic-and-span toilets, menus with clear prices -- and the immediacy of the street-food experience.

    Street Smarts 2009

  • The check-in is prompt and polite, and their counter is spic-and-span (and yes, that does make an impression when, as in Delhi, it adjoins the peeling Air Dakkan — as we refer to it — counter).

    Archive 2006-06-01 2006

  • I admit it: I've bristled a time or two at the suggestion that a spic-and-span house, incessant reading, and parenting seem effortless in your neck of the woods.

    A fan letter M-mv 2005

  • I admit it: I've bristled a time or two at the suggestion that a spic-and-span house, incessant reading, and parenting seem effortless in your neck of the woods.

    Archive 2005-06-01 M-mv 2005

  • Lamps, books, and china had stayed put, and the little bedroom looked spic-and-span.

    Barbara Bush Barbara Bush 2005

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