frequencyvocabularyword-choiceword-usage
I've just came across the collocation 'clear the exam'.
Even though I do understand the meaning from the context, I could not find this phrase in Longman dictionary,
and when googled the search results are mostly shown for 'pass the exam'.
I was just wondering about the frequency of usage, etc.
I disagree with the poster's statement that "crawl sounds very strange to the native speaker." It's the term I'd be most likely to use, unless I wanted a bit of dramatic effect. In that case I'd use "slither."
Here's an ngram comparison of all three.
As you can see, "the snake crept" is the most common in the 19th century, "the snake crawled" is the most common from the early 20th century until about 1980, and "the snake slithered" is now about twice as common as "the snake crawled."
Best Answer
Clear exams or clear an exam seems to be a common expression in Indian English.
I've never encountered it in US English; but it doesn't appear at all foreign or quaint. We use clear in racing (horse and human) to speak of successfully leaping over a fence or hurdle, and clear the hurdles is often extended figuratively to other sorts of obstacle, such as legal and regulatory requirements.
In about three hours I'll be calling my wife, who is to turn in the last of three doctoral comps at noon. If she says "Well, I've cleared that at last!" I'll know exactly what she means.