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wipe out

 - 8 dictionary results

wipe⋅out

  [wahyp-out]
Use wipe out in a Sentence
–noun
1. Informal. destruction, annihilation, or murder.
2. (in sports) Informal. a decisive defeat.
3. a fall from a surfboard.
4. Slang. a total or complete failure: to suffer a wipeout in the stock market.
5. Slang. complete physical exhaustion.
Also, wipe-out.

Origin:
1920–25; n. use of v. phrase wipe out

wipe

  [wahyp] verb, wiped, wip⋅ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to rub lightly with or on a cloth, towel, paper, the hand, etc., in order to clean or dry the surface of: He wiped the furniture with a damp cloth.
2. to rub or draw (something) over a surface, as in cleaning or drying.
3. to remove by rubbing with or on something (usually fol. by away, off, out, etc.): Wipe the dirt off your shoes. Wipe the dust from the pictures.
4. to remove as if by rubbing (usually fol. by away, off, etc.): Wipe that smile off your face!
5. to erase, as from existence or memory (often fol. by from): to wipe a thought from one's mind.
6. to erase (magnetic tape, a recording, etc.).
7. Plumbing.
a. to apply (solder in a semifluid state) by spreading with leather or cloth over the part to be soldered.
b. to form (a joint) in this manner.
8. Machinery. (of a rotating shaft or the like) to melt the brasses of (a bearing) through friction.
9. Australian Slang. to refuse to have anything to do with; reject; dismiss.
–noun
10. an act of wiping: He gave a few quick wipes to the furniture.
11. a rub, as of one thing over another.
12. Also called wipe-off. Movies. a technique in film editing by which the projected image of a scene appears to be pushed or wiped off the screen by the image that follows.
13. a piece of absorbent material, as of paper or cloth, used for wiping.
14. a sweeping stroke or blow.
15. a gibe.
16. Machinery. wiper (def. 5).
17. Slang. a handkerchief.
—Verb phrases
18. wipe out,
a. to destroy completely; demolish: The entire city was wiped out.
b. Informal. to murder; kill: They wiped him out to keep him from testifying.
c. Slang. to beat decisively, as in sports.
d. Slang. (in sports) to be taken out of competition by a fall, accident, collision, etc.
e. Slang. to intoxicate or cause to become high, esp. on narcotic drugs.
19. wipe up, to clean completely by wiping: to wipe up the mess on the floor.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME (v.), OE wīpian; c. OHG wīfan to wind round, Goth weipan to crown; perh. akin to L vibrāre to move to and fro

Synonyms:
4. erase, eradicate, banish.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To wipe out
wipe   (wīp)   
tr.v.   wiped, wip·ing, wipes

    1. To subject to light rubbing or friction, as with a cloth or paper, in order to clean or dry.

    2. To clean or dry by rubbing: wiped my feet before I went inside.

    3. To rub, move, or pass (a cloth, for example) over a surface.

    4. To remove by or as if by rubbing: wipe off dirt; wipe away grease.

    5. To blot out completely, as from the memory.

    6. To spread or apply by or as if by wiping: wiped furniture polish over the table.

    7. To form (a joint) in plumbing by spreading solder with a piece of cloth or leather.

    1. To remove by or as if by rubbing: wipe off dirt; wipe away grease.

    2. To blot out completely, as from the memory.

    3. To spread or apply by or as if by wiping: wiped furniture polish over the table.

    4. To form (a joint) in plumbing by spreading solder with a piece of cloth or leather.

    1. To spread or apply by or as if by wiping: wiped furniture polish over the table.

    2. To form (a joint) in plumbing by spreading solder with a piece of cloth or leather.

n.  

  1. The act or an instance of wiping.

  2. Something, such as a towel or tissue, used for wiping.

  3. A cam that activates another part; a wiper.

    1. A blow or swipe.

    2. Informal A jeer; a gibe.

  5. A transition from one scene in a film or movie to another, effected by means of a line passing across the screen.

Phrasal Verb(s):
wipe out

  1. To destroy or be destroyed completely.

  2. Slang To murder.

  3. Sports To lose one's balance and fall, as when skiing or surfing.


[Middle English wipen, from Old English wīpian; see weip- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
wipe out

  1. in.
    to crash. : The car wiped out on the curve.
  2. in.
    to fall off or away from something, such as a bicycle, skates, a surfboard, a skateboard, etc. : I wiped out and skinned my knee.
  3. n.
    [ˈwɑɪpɑʊt]a wreck. (Usually wipe-out.) : There was a four-car wipe-out on the expressway when I came in this morning.
  4. n.
    an accident on a bicycle, skates, surfboard, skateboard, etc. (Usually wipe-out.) : I had a nasty wipe-out, but I only bruised my elbow.
  5. n.
    a loser; someone who is likely to wipe out. (Usually wipe-out.) : The guy's a wipe-out, for sure.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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wipe (so)

  1. tv.
    to eliminate someone; to kill someone. (Underworld.) : Max almost wiped Spike out.
  2. tv.
    to exhaust or tire someone. : Jogging always wipes me out.
  3. tv.
    to ruin someone financially. : The storm ruined the corn crop and wiped out everyone in the county.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
wipe (sth) out

  1. tv.
    to use up all of something. (See also wiped (out).) : I wiped the cookies out—not all at once, of course.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

wipe  (v.)
O.E. wipan, from P.Gmc. *wipanan (cf. Dan. vippe, M.Du., Du. vippen, O.H.G. wifan "to swing"), from PIE *weip- "to turn, vacillate, tremble" (cf. L. vibrare "to shake;" see vibrate). The noun meaning "disposable absorbent tissue" is attested from 1971. Surfer slang produced wipeout (1962); sense of "destruction, defeat, a killing" is recorded from 1968.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

wipe out

  1. Destroy, as in The large chains are wiping out the independent bookstores. Originally put simply as wipe, the idiom acquired out in the first half of the 1800s.

  2. Kill; also, murder. For example, The entire crew was wiped out in the plane crash, or The gangsters threatened to wipe him and his family out. [Late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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