wipe
Americanverb (used with object)
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to rub lightly with or on a cloth, towel, paper, the hand, etc., in order to clean or dry the surface of.
He wiped the furniture with a damp cloth.
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to rub or draw (something) over a surface, as in cleaning or drying.
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to remove by rubbing with or on something (usually followed by away, off, out, etc.).
Wipe the dirt off your shoes. Wipe the dust from the pictures.
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to remove as if by rubbing (usually followed by away, off, etc.).
Wipe that smile off your face!
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to erase, as from existence or memory (often followed byfrom ).
to wipe a thought from one's mind.
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to erase (magnetic tape, a recording, etc.)
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to delete the entire contents and settings of (a digital storage device, mobile device, etc.).
She remotely wiped her computer after it was stolen.
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Plumbing.
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to apply (solder in a semifluid state) by spreading with leather or cloth over the part to be soldered.
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to form (a joint) in this manner.
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Machinery. (of a rotating shaft or the like) to melt the brasses of (a bearing) through friction.
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Australian Slang. to refuse to have anything to do with; reject; dismiss.
verb (used without object)
noun
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an act of wiping.
He gave a few quick wipes to the furniture.
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a rub, as of one thing over another.
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Also called wipe-off. Movies. a technique in film editing by which the projected image of a scene appears to be pushed or wiped off the screen by the image that follows.
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a piece of absorbent material, as of paper or cloth, used for wiping.
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a sweeping stroke or blow.
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a gibe.
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Machinery. wiper.
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(in a video game) a defeat in which all cooperative player characters in a group are killed.
a total party wipe.
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Slang. a handkerchief.
verb phrase
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wipe out
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to destroy completely; demolish.
The entire city was wiped out.
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Informal. to murder; kill.
They wiped him out to keep him from testifying.
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Slang. to beat decisively, as in sports.
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Slang. (in sports) to be taken out of competition by a fall, accident, collision, etc.
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Slang. to intoxicate or cause to become high, especially on narcotic drugs.
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wipe up to clean completely by wiping.
to wipe up the mess on the floor.
verb
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to rub (a surface or object) lightly, esp with (a cloth, hand, etc), as in removing dust, water, grime, etc
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to remove by or as if by rubbing lightly
he wiped the dirt from his hands
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to eradicate or cancel (a thought, memory, etc)
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to erase a recording from (an audio or video tape)
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informal to abandon or reject (a person)
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to apply (oil, grease, etc) by wiping
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to form (a joint between two lead pipes) with solder or soft lead
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informal to defeat someone decisively
noun
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the act or an instance of wiping
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(in film editing) an effect causing the transition from one scene to the next in which the image of the first scene appears to be wiped off the screen by that of the second
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dialect a sweeping blow or stroke
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dialect a gibe or jeer
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obsolete a slang name for handkerchief
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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wipesimple
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wipessimple
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have wipedperfect
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has wipedperfect
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am wipingprogressive
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are wipingprogressive
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is wipingprogressive
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have been wipingperfect progressive
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has been wipingperfect progressive
Past
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wipedsimple
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had wipedperfect
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was wipingprogressive
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were wipingprogressive
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had been wipingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wipe
First recorded before 1000; Middle English wipen, Old English wīpian; cognate with Old High German wīfan “to wind round,” Gothic weipan “to crown”; perhaps akin to Latin vibrāre “to move to and fro”
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.
See Examples For:
Not wanting to risk big fines that could wipe out most or all of her earnings, she decided to cut back dramatically and leave nine acres dry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Mothers wipe dust from photographs of their children.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Regulators should have been careful given such products are "inherently high-risk because the compounding effect can wipe out an investor's entire principal over a short period," it said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
This can generate heavy short-term capital-gains taxes that can wipe out any extra returns.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
The night her mother took a Kleenex and forcibly tried to wipe the makeup off her face, Sharon flounced from the house and into her boyfriend’s truck.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
And AI is forcing us all to ponder: What are we supposed to do with our elongated lives if technology wipes out the jobs that once gave us purpose?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Unlike bleach and wipes, a product made of buttermilk and mayo is not exactly designed for mass consumption.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
NI water added that pollution incidents could also be caused by "inappropriate flushing" of items such as baby wipes.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
There were also reports of skin irritation, eye irritation and infections allegedly associated with the use of the wipes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
He wipes a thick residue of powder from his face with a handkerchief that might once have been white.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Share prices jumped in South Korea on Friday, partly reversing a three-day rout that wiped hundreds of billions of dollars off the value of the country's stock market.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Tunick's requests to have a lawyer present were repeatedly denied and when asked to unlock his Google Pixel phone, he allegedly supplied a passcode that triggered software that wiped the device.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
This month alone 360,000 retail accounts in Korea have been wiped out and the market has recorded 1.2million margin calls as Korea’s army of retail investor ‘ants’ suffered heavy losses.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Later, a presidential pardon wiped his record clean.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Molly wiped the feathers from her hands as the ground beneath her tilted dangerously.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
SK hynix surged 30 percent -- wiping out its losses from the previous two days.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
An industry body in Wales warned the policy could risk "wiping out tourism".
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
She noted inflation “is wiping out wage gains for many. Grocery prices also continue to rise. But the picture did look slightly better in June than in April or May.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
“The exciting part is that this generation is not about wiping the slate clean, but about beginning a new slate,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
She came to in seconds, sputtering and frantically wiping her mouth to get rid of the horrendous taste.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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.
