mop-up

1 of 2

noun

ˈmäp-ˌəp 

often attributive

: a concluding action or phase

mop up

2 of 2

verb

mopped up; mopping up; mops up

transitive verb

1

British : to consume eagerly

2

: to gather as if by absorbing

also : garner

mopped up all the awards

3

: to overcome decisively : trounce

4

: to clear (an area) of remaining pockets of resistance in the wake of a military offensive

intransitive verb

: to complete a project, transaction, or task

Synonyms

Noun

• capper
• close
• closing
• conclusion
• consummation
• end
• endgame
• ending
• finale
• finis
• finish
• grand finale
• homestretch
• windup
• wrap-up

Examples of mop-up in a Sentence

Noun

the general announced that the remaining fighting would be only a mop-up to a war that was all but over

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Christie, though, struggled badly to start the season and fell out of Redick’s rotation, relegated to late-game mop-up duty in wins over Philadelphia and Toronto before a DNP on Nov. 13 against Memphis. —Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2024

Fans filed out with more than three minutes remaining, what was left of Golden State’s bench at the scorer’s table ready for mop-up duty. —Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 7 Dec. 2024

Verb

The Broad Fire burned around 33 acres, but its forward progress was stopped and firefighters were mopping up late Wednesday afternoon, Malibu’s city government said. —Phil Helsel, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2024

The Berlin fire was just one of 111 brush or wildfires around the state being monitored or mopped up by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and local fire crews, officials said at a Sunday night news briefing. —Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 4 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1900, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1811, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1