rule out
Britishverb
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to dismiss from consideration
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to make impossible; preclude or prevent
the rain ruled out outdoor games
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Eliminate from consideration, exclude, as in The option of starting over again has been ruled out . [Second half of 1800s]
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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.
Speaking at an event held by the Senedd Sources podcast, external on Tuesday, Plaid's Minister for Government Effectiveness, Dafydd Trystan Davies, did not rule out cutting or changing the Flying Start programme.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
He initially refused to rule out military force.
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026
Boujnah said combining the stock exchange businesses would make sense and did not rule out a full-scale merger, though no talks are in progress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
The evidence also allowed the team to rule out natural explanations such as glacial movement.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
They could be anywhere within a two-mile radius, although I can rule out the empty marsh as an option.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
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.
