| 1. | a certificate of health attesting the lack of a contagious disease, as on a ship. |
| 2. | an assurance, as by a doctor, that one is in good health. |
| 3. | Also, clean bill. an assurance, esp. an official verdict by a committee, that a group or an individual has proved, under investigation, to be morally sound, fit for office, etc. |
| 1. | a certificate, carried by a ship, attesting to the presence or absence of infectious diseases among the ship's crew and at the port from which it has come. |
| 2. | clean bill of health, an attestation of fitness or qualification; a commendation: The investigating committee gave him a clean bill of health. |
To “get a clean bill of health” is to be told by some authoritative source, generally a doctor, that one is perfectly healthy. The phrase is sometimes used figuratively to indicate that a person or organization has been found free of any sort of irregularity: “After looking into her financial background, the Senate gave the nominee a clean bill of health.”
bill of health n.
A certificate stating whether there is infectious disease aboard a ship or in a port of departure, given to the ship's master to present at the next port of arrival.
An attestation as to condition, especially a favorable one.
clean bill of health
A report confirming the absence of fault or guilt in a person or thing, as in Jeff checked every component and gave the computer a clean bill of health, or He had a foolproof alibi so the police had to give him a clean bill of health. This term comes from a 17th-century practice of requiring ships to produce a medical document (bill) attesting to the absence of infectious disease on board before landing.