clean bill of health

SEE SYNONYMS FOR clean bill of health ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a certificate of health attesting the lack of a contagious disease, as on a ship.
an assurance, as by a doctor, that one is in good health.
Also clean bill. an assurance, especially an official verdict by a committee, that a group or an individual has proved, under investigation, to be morally sound, fit for office, etc.

Origin of clean bill of health

First recorded in 1850–55

Words nearby clean bill of health

cld., clea, clean, clean and jerk, clean as a whistle, clean bill of health, clean breast, clean eating, clean energy, clean food, clean hands

Words related to clean bill of health

pink, navicert, pratique

Cultural definitions for clean bill of health

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.”

Idioms and Phrases with clean bill of health

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.