1. The act or process of making or becoming clear.
2. A tract of land within a wood or other overgrown area from which trees and other obstructions have been removed.
3. An open space: a clearing in the fog.
4. 1. The exchange among banks of checks, drafts, and notes and the settlement of consequent differences.
   2. clearings The total of claims presented daily at a clearing-house.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.