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Synonyms

rub out

British  

verb

  1. to remove or be removed with a rubber

  2. slang to murder

  3. Australian rules football to suspend (a player)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
rub out Idioms  

  1. Obliterate or erase by, or as if by, rubbing. For example, Bill was so busy rubbing out the old markings that he forgot to put in new ones . [Mid-1600s]

  2. Murder, kill, as in They threatened to rub him out if he didn't pay up . [ Slang ; mid-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.

He fidgets endlessly with his hands as if trying to rub out the scars.

From BBC • Jul. 25, 2023

After the war, they saw no need to rub out their past.

From Reuters • Oct. 26, 2022

“I’m really sensitive to it,” she said, trying to rub out a stain from coffee she’d just spilled on her dress.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2022

I rub out a lot and redraw to get it right.

From The Guardian • Nov. 25, 2017

He intertwined his fingers and tried to rub out the pain.

From "Holes" by Louis Sachar

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.