Clean up
Clean up verb - To destroy all traces of.
Usage example: hurriedly cleaned up the mess that they had created in the kitchen
Protect
Protect verb - To drive danger or attack away from.
Both terms in one sentence
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The department exists to protect against time travel and clean up the mess that results, not travel in time themselves.
- He then proceeds to fail utterly- he cannot protect his Betas (who proceed to leave him or die or both), gets manipulated by every villain in town, and in the end Scott has to clean up his mess.
Source: Unfit for Greatness -
Know When to Fold 'Em: With word that the Feds are right about to find the Senator's body, Johnny Sulari knows it is time to walk away and clean up the loose ends he can, to protect the family.
Source: Literature / The Client
Cite this Source
Protect and Clean up. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/clean_up/protect
Clean up & Protect. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/clean_up/protect>.
Protect or Clean up. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/clean_up/protect.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "clean up" and "protect" have occurred on timeline