rule out


verb(tr, adverb)
  1. to dismiss from consideration

  2. to make impossible; preclude or prevent: the rain ruled out outdoor games

Words Nearby rule out

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

How to use rule out in a sentence

  • One pays for something one has got or is going to get, and as we can rule out both reasons, the cheque is bad.

    The Girl From Keller's | Harold Bindloss
  • Nevertheless it would be imprudent wholly to rule out this form of sexual aberration from the causes of variability of species.

  • So he could not rule out as impossible a sudden affection for Adela Sellingworth in the heart of young Craven.

    December Love | Robert Hichens
  • In selecting such a lot, they may rule out first-class cheese that is too pale or too high-colored.

    Hints on Dairying | T. D. Curtis
  • If we rule out the cheapest and poorest grades of articles, we find all others affording a "consumers' surplus."

Other Idioms and Phrases with rule out

rule out

Eliminate from consideration, exclude, as in The option of starting over again has been ruled out. [Second half of 1800s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.