wipe

American  

[wahyp] / waɪp /

verb (used with object)

• wipes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• wiped,
  past participle,  past
• wiping
  present participle

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 followed 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 followed by away, off, etc.).

   Wipe that smile off your face!

   Synonyms:

   banish, eradicate, erase

5. to erase, as from existence or memory (often followed byfrom ).

   to wipe a thought from one's mind.

6. 1. to erase (magnetic tape, a recording, etc.)

   2. to delete the entire contents and settings of (a digital storage device, mobile device, etc.).

      She remotely wiped her computer after it was stolen.

7. Plumbing.

   1. to apply (solder in a semifluid state) by spreading with leather or cloth over the part to be soldered.

   2. 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.

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verb (used without object)

• wipes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• wiped,
  past participle,  past
• wiping
  present participle

1. (in a video game) to suffer a defeat in which all cooperative player characters in a group are killed.

   After hours in that dungeon, our group wiped and we had to start again from the beginning.

noun

• wipes
  plural

1. an act of wiping.

   He gave a few quick wipes to the furniture.

2. a rub, as of one thing over another.

3. 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.

4. a piece of absorbent material, as of paper or cloth, used for wiping.

5. a sweeping stroke or blow.

6. a gibe.

7. Machinery. wiper.

8. (in a video game) a defeat in which all cooperative player characters in a group are killed.

   a total party wipe.

9. Slang. a handkerchief.

verb phrase

1. wipe out

   1. to destroy completely; demolish.

      The entire city was wiped out.

   2. Informal. to murder; kill.

      They wiped him out to keep him from testifying.

   3. Slang. to beat decisively, as in sports.

   4. Slang. (in sports) to be taken out of competition by a fall, accident, collision, etc.

   5. Slang. to intoxicate or cause to become high, especially on narcotic drugs.

2. wipe up to clean completely by wiping.

   to wipe up the mess on the floor.

wipe British  

/ waɪp /

verb

1. to rub (a surface or object) lightly, esp with (a cloth, hand, etc), as in removing dust, water, grime, etc

2. to remove by or as if by rubbing lightly

   he wiped the dirt from his hands

3. to eradicate or cancel (a thought, memory, etc)

4. to erase a recording from (an audio or video tape)

5. informal to abandon or reject (a person)

6. to apply (oil, grease, etc) by wiping

7. to form (a joint between two lead pipes) with solder or soft lead

8. informal to defeat someone decisively

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noun

1. the act or an instance of wiping

2. (in film editing) an effect causing the transition from one scene to the next in which the image of the first scene appears to be wiped off the screen by that of the second

3. dialect a sweeping blow or stroke

4. dialect a gibe or jeer

5. obsolete a slang name for handkerchief

wipe Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing wipe

• mop up (wipe) the floor with
• settle (wipe out) an old score

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wipes
  plural

Participles

• wiping
  present
• wiped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• wipe
  simple
• wipes
  simple
• have wiped
  perfect
• has wiped
  perfect
• am wiping
  progressive
• are wiping
  progressive
• is wiping
  progressive
• have been wiping
  perfect progressive
• has been wiping
  perfect progressive

Past

• wiped
  simple
• had wiped
  perfect
• was wiping
  progressive
• were wiping
  progressive
• had been wiping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will wipe
  simple
• will have wiped
  perfect
• will be wiping
  progressive
• will have been wiping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of wipe

First recorded before 1000; Middle English wipen, Old English wīpian; cognate with Old High German wīfan “to wind round,” Gothic weipan “to crown”; perhaps akin to Latin vibrāre “to move to and fro”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wipe wipes wiped wiping

Senior author Beth Shapiro, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz and co-director of the Paleogenomics Lab, said low genetic diversity alone was not enough to wipe out the species.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026

Ballmer cannot wipe his hands clean of Aspiration quite yet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

"It's quite likely that it will wipe out most of my US sales," Baldassi told the BBC.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

There’s nothing in the statute that says a change of this nature—which may prove temporary—is enough to wipe Harvard’s slate clean.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

I wipe my face and start walking again.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

Then came paper towels, Method cleaner, dish soap, lime sparkling water and grapefruit-scented antibacterial wipes.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

Moorside Baby Bank opened in February 2025 and has so far helped 226 families with goods like clothes, nappies and baby wipes, which were mainly donated by the community.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

And AI is forcing us all to ponder: What are we supposed to do with our elongated lives if technology wipes out the jobs that once gave us purpose?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Unlike bleach and wipes, a product made of buttermilk and mayo is not exactly designed for mass consumption.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

He lets out a hard sigh and wipes his mouth with one hand, the other still on the steering wheel even though he’s not even driving.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender

One robot tidied cupboards and wiped surfaces, while others put orange juice and milk in the fridge, threw away empty packaging and loaded the dishwasher.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

Robicheaux’s criminal case no longer appears in Orange County Superior Court, which is typical when a case has been wiped from a defendant’s record.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Gyirong Port, the border crossing that was wiped out last week, was a symbol of those growing ties.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Monday’s losses also wiped out the stock’s year-to-date gains, which had been building as investors hoped that Newsom’s efforts on that liability shift would succeed.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

“I am!” he said with a grimace as he wiped the flecks of spit off his cheek.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Tesla shares are down 4.5% in early trading on Friday, wiping out most of the gains made in Thursday’s session leading up to the Cybercab event.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026

“Phew!” the WB execs said, exhaling and wiping their brows.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

Instead, many pilgrims were caught in deadly floods that tore through the Nepal-Tibet region, wiping out entire villages.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

He’s more wary of buying from independent sellers in online marketplaces: Amazon.com may set the rules, but they aren’t the ones wiping the drive, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

When the Hardys got to the Snack Shack, they found a college-age girl wiping the counter with a rag.

From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon

Related Words

• clean
• dry
• dust
• erase
• mop
• obliterate
• remove
• rub
• wash