Clean up
Clean up verb - To make a place neat and orderly by removing extraneous stuff.
Prevent
Prevent verb - To keep from happening by taking action in advance.
Both terms in one sentence
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In fact, he often has to reign in Edward to prevent excess damage and often has to clean up if he's not able to prevent such excesses.
Source: Wise Beyond Their Years - He revives the ones you defeat, and furthermore, you have to prevent any of them from reaching a pair of escape points while you battle him, then clean up after he's gone.
Source: Bonus Boss - The Men in Black have "Special Services", members of the MIB organization who clean up evidence of aliens to prevent the general public from learning about their existence.
Source: Cleanup Crew
Cite this Source
Prevent and Clean up. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/clean_up/prevent
Clean up & Prevent. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/clean_up/prevent>.
Prevent or Clean up. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/clean_up/prevent.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "clean up" and "prevent" have occurred on timeline