rule out
Britishverb
-
to dismiss from consideration
-
to make impossible; preclude or prevent
the rain ruled out outdoor games
-
Eliminate from consideration, exclude, as in The option of starting over again has been ruled out . [Second half of 1800s]
-
Prevent, make impossible, as in The snowstorm ruled out our weekly rehearsal . [First half of 1900s]
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 initially refused to rule out military force.
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026
Vomiting occurred only in the deficient group, although the difference was small and was not statistically significant, meaning researchers could not confidently rule out chance as the explanation.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
The company said it was unlikely that data from people using its products had helped improve the models, but it couldn’t rule out the possibility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
"While unlikely, we cannot rule out that de-identified data derived from their usage of our products helped improve our models", the company added.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Ernest and his colleagues left a profound impression on President Eisenhower, though not enough to prompt him to rule out a test ban entirely.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
