--- a/NEWS	Tue Dec 04 21:17:01 2018 -0800
+++ b/NEWS	Wed Dec 05 10:31:25 2018 -0800
@@ -142,6 +142,7 @@
 
  ** New functions added in 5.0:
 
+      clearvars
       isfile
       isfolder
       movegui

--- a/doc/interpreter/var.txi	Tue Dec 04 21:17:01 2018 -0800
+++ b/doc/interpreter/var.txi	Wed Dec 05 10:31:25 2018 -0800
@@ -367,10 +367,12 @@
 @noindent
 Since having this variable in memory might slow down other computations,
 it can be necessary to remove it manually from memory.  The @code{clear}
-function allows this.
+or @code{clearvars} functions do this.
 
 @DOCSTRING(clear)
 
+@DOCSTRING(clearvars)
+
 @DOCSTRING(pack)
 
 Information about a function or variable such as its location in the

--- a/scripts/help/__unimplemented__.m	Tue Dec 04 21:17:01 2018 -0800
+++ b/scripts/help/__unimplemented__.m	Wed Dec 05 10:31:25 2018 -0800
@@ -632,7 +632,6 @@
   "clearAllMemoizedCaches",
   "clearCache",
   "clearpoints",
-  "clearvars",
   "clipboard",
   "clone",
   "cmopts",

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/clearvars.m	Wed Dec 05 10:31:25 2018 -0800
@@ -0,0 +1,220 @@
+## Copyright (C) 2018 Rik Wehbring
+## Copyright (C) 2013 David Turner
+##
+## This file is part of Octave.
+##
+## Octave is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+## under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+## the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+## (at your option) any later version.
+##
+## Octave is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+## WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+## MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+## GNU General Public License for more details.
+##
+## You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+## along with Octave; see the file COPYING.  If not, see
+## <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+## -*- texinfo -*-
+## @deftypefn  {} {} clearvars
+## @deftypefnx {} {} clearvars @var{pattern} @dots{}
+## @deftypefnx {} {} clearvars -regexp @var{pattern} @dots{}
+## @deftypefnx {} {} clearvars @dots{} -except @var{pattern} @dots{}
+## @deftypefnx {} {} clearvars @dots{} -except -regexp @var{pattern} @dots{}
+## @deftypefnx {} {} clearvars -global @dots{}
+## Delete the variables matching the given @var{pattern}s from memory.
+##
+## The @var{pattern} may contain the following special characters:
+##
+## @table @code
+## @item ?
+## Match any single character.
+##
+## @item *
+## Match zero or more characters.
+##
+## @item [ @var{list} ]
+## Match the list of characters specified by @var{list}.  If the first
+## character is @code{!} or @code{^}, match all characters except those
+## specified by @var{list}.  For example, the pattern @code{[a-zA-Z]} will
+## match all lowercase and uppercase alphabetic characters.
+## @end table
+##
+## If the @option{-regexp} option is given then subsequent patterns are treated
+## as regular expressions and any matches will be cleared.
+##
+## If the @option{-except} option is given then subsequent patterns select
+## variables that will @strong{not} be cleared.
+##
+## If the @option{-global} option is given then all patterns will be applied
+## to global variables rather than local variables.
+##
+## When called with no arguments, @code{clearvars} deletes all local variables.
+##
+## Example Code:
+##
+## Clear all variables starting with @qcode{'x'} and the specific variable
+## @qcode{"foobar"}
+##
+## @example
+## clearvars x* foobar
+## @end example
+##
+## Clear the specific variable @qcode{"foobar"} and use regular expressions to
+## clear all variables starting with @qcode{'x'} or @qcode{'y'}.
+##
+## @example
+## clearvars foobar -regexp ^x ^y
+## @end example
+##
+## Clear all variables except for @qcode{"foobar"}
+##
+## @example
+## clearvars -except foobar
+## @end example
+##
+## Clear all variables beginning with @qcode{"foo"}, except for those ending
+## in @qcode{"bar"}
+##
+## @example
+## clearvars foo* -except -regexp bar$
+## @end example
+##
+## @seealso{clear, who, whos, exist}
+## @end deftypefn
+
+function clearvars (varargin)
+
+  numvar = 0;
+  global_mode = false;
+  except_mode = false;
+  regexp_mode = false;
+
+  ## Parse arguments
+  for cellarg = varargin
+    arg = cellarg{1};
+
+    ## Parse options
+    if (strcmp (arg, "-global"))
+      if (numvar > 0)
+        error ("clearvars: '-global' must be the first option when present");
+      endif
+      global_mode = true;
+      continue;
+    elseif (strcmp (arg, "-except"))
+      if (except_mode)
+        error ("clearvars: '-except' may only be specified once");
+      endif
+      except_mode = true;
+      regexp_mode = false;
+      continue;
+    elseif (strcmp (arg, "-regexp"))
+      regexp_mode = true;
+      continue;
+    endif
+
+    ## Parse patterns
+    numvar += 1;
+    vars(numvar).except = except_mode;
+    if (! regexp_mode)
+      vars(numvar).var_name = [ '\<' regexptranslate("wildcard", arg) '\>' ];
+    else
+      vars(numvar).var_name = arg;
+    endif
+
+  endfor
+
+  if (global_mode)
+    varlist = evalin ("caller", "who global");
+  else
+    varlist = evalin ("caller", "who");
+  endif
+
+  ## evalin will cause the automatic creation of 'ans' variable (bug #53339).
+  ## Determine if it needs to be removed at the end of the function.
+  clear_ans = ! any (strcmp (varlist, "ans"));
+
+  if (numvar == 0 || all ([vars.except]))
+    ## For wildcard, select all variables in list
+    idx_clear = true (numel (varlist), 1);
+  else
+    ptn = strjoin ({ vars(! [vars.except]).var_name }, '|');
+    idx_clear = ! cellfun (@isempty, regexp (varlist, ptn));
+  endif
+
+  if (numvar > 0 && any ([vars.except]))
+    ptn = strjoin ({ vars([vars.except]).var_name }, '|');
+    idx_except = ! cellfun (@isempty, regexp (varlist, ptn));
+    idx_clear(idx_except) = false; 
+  endif
+
+  varlist = varlist(idx_clear);
+  names = strjoin (varlist, " ");
+
+  if (! isempty (names))
+    if (global_mode)
+      evalin ("caller", ["clear -global " names]);
+    else
+      evalin ("caller", ["clear " names]);
+    endif
+  endif
+
+  ## Clean up automatic variable "ans" if necessary
+  if (clear_ans)
+    evalin ("caller", "clear ans");
+  endif
+
+endfunction
+
+
+## Tests must be done in a function namespace;
+## Otherwise, they interfere with the BIST environment itself.
+%!function __test_local_vars__ ()
+%!  global x y z
+%!  a = 1; b = 2; c = 3;
+%!  assert (all (ismember ({"a"; "b"; "c"}, who ())));
+%!  ## Test 0-argument form
+%!  clearvars
+%!  assert (isempty (who ()));
+%!
+%!  a = 1; a2 = 2; a33 = 3;
+%!  ## Test special wildcard pattern
+%!  clearvars a?3
+%!  assert (isempty (who ("a33")));
+%!
+%!  a33 = 3;
+%!  ## Test -regexp option
+%!  clearvars -regexp 2 3$
+%!  assert (who ("a*"), {"a"});
+%!
+%!  a = 1; a2 = 2; a33 = 3;
+%!  ## Test -except option
+%!  clearvars a* -except a33
+%!  assert (who ("a", "a2", "a33"), {"a33"});
+%!
+%!  ## Test that non-regexp patterns only select full words
+%!  clearvars a3
+%!  assert (who ("a33"), {"a33"});
+%!endfunction
+
+%!function __test_global_vars__ ()
+%!  global x y z
+%!  a = 1; b = 2; c = 3;
+%!  assert (all (ismember ({"x"; "y"; "z"}, who ("global"))));
+%!  clearvars -global
+%!  assert (isempty (who ("global")));
+%!
+%!  global x y z
+%!  clearvars -global -regexp ^y
+%!  assert (! any (strcmp ("y", who ("global"))));
+%!endfunction
+
+## Run BIST test functions
+%!test __test_local_vars__ ();
+%!test __test_global_vars__ ();
+
+## Test input validation
+%!error <'-global' must be the first option> clearvars ("ans", "-global")
+%!error <'-except' may only be specified once> clearvars ("-except", "-except")

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/module.mk	Tue Dec 04 21:17:01 2018 -0800
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/module.mk	Wed Dec 05 10:31:25 2018 -0800
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
   %reldir%/bunzip2.m \
   %reldir%/cast.m \
   %reldir%/citation.m \
+  %reldir%/clearvars.m \
   %reldir%/compare_versions.m \
   %reldir%/computer.m \
   %reldir%/copyfile.m \