the distance between two objects; an amount of clear space: The bridge allowed a clearance of 37 feet at mean high water.
3.
a formal authorization permitting access to classified information, documents, etc.
4.
Also called clearance sale.the disposal of merchandise at reduced prices to make room for new goods: He bought the coat for half price at a clearance.
5.
a clear space; a clearing: The house stood in a clearance among the trees.
6.
Banking. an exchange of checks and other commercial paper drawn on members of a clearinghouse, usually effected at a daily meeting of the members.
7.
Machinery. a space between two moving parts, left to avoid clashing or to permit relatively free motion.
8.
the angle between a face of a cutting tool, as a lathe tool, and the work.
9.
Nautical.
a.
the clearing of a ship at a port.
b.
Also called clearance papers.the official papers certifying this.
10.
Medicine/Medical. a test of the excretory function of the kidneys based on the volume of blood that is cleared of a specific substance per minute by renal excretion.
Clear"ance\ (-ans), n. 1. The act of clearing; as, to make a thorough clearance. 2. A certificate that a ship or vessel has been cleared at the customhouse; permission to sail. Every ship was subject to seizure for want of stamped clearances. --Durke 3. Clear or net profit. --Trollope. 4. (Mach.) The distance by which one object clears another, as the distance between the piston and cylinder head at the end of a stroke in a steam engine, or the least distance between the point of a cogwheel tooth and the bottom of a space between teeth of a wheel with which it engages. Clearance space (Steam engine), the space inclosed in one end of the cylinder, between the valve or valves and the piston, at the beginning of a stroke; waste room. It includes the space caused by the piston's clearance and the space in ports, passageways, etc. Its volume is often expressed as a certain proportion of the volume swept by the piston in a single stroke.