Definition of clearance

• n. - The act of clearing; as, to make a thorough clearance.
• n. - A certificate that a ship or vessel has been cleared at the customhouse; permission to sail.
• n. - Clear or net profit.
• n. - 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.