wipe out
Britishverb
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(tr) to destroy completely; eradicate
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informal (tr) to murder or kill
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(intr) to fall or jump off a surfboard or skateboard
noun
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an act or instance of wiping out
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the interference of one radio signal by another so that reception is impossible
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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.
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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]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On the other side, the district points to ongoing deficit spending that officials predict is likely to wipe out entirely the reserves in three to four years.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026
“It doesn’t take much of a reaction to wipe out a margin of only three quarters of a point,” Lefèvre writes.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
They also give traders access to extreme leverage that can amplify their profits—or wipe out their entire investment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
He added that, "for reasons of decency", he had "chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island".
From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026
Ice cubes don’t wipe out civilizations with bursts of gamma rays, though following the then-accepted rules of physics led inexorably to that conclusion.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
