wipe out
Britishverb
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(tr) to destroy completely; eradicate
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informal (tr) to murder or kill
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(intr) to fall or jump off a surfboard or skateboard
noun
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an act or instance of wiping out
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the interference of one radio signal by another so that reception is impossible
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Destroy, as in The large chains are wiping out the independent bookstores . Originally put simply as wipe , the idiom acquired out in the first half of the 1800s.
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Kill; also, murder. For example, The entire crew was wiped out in the plane crash , or The gangsters threatened to wipe him and his family out . [Late 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 added that, "for reasons of decency", he had "chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island".
From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026
In contrast, many existing antibiotics wipe out large portions of the microbiome, including helpful microbes that support gut health.
From Science Daily • Mar. 11, 2026
“GPUs didn’t wipe out the need for CPUs, and they’re used interchangably for different problems,” Xanadu CEO Christian Weedbrook explained in an interview with Barron’s.
From Barron's • Mar. 10, 2026
Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei has said AI could in coming years wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026
After this, he waited for the opportunity to wipe out the Orsini leaders, having already put to flight those of the Colonna family.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
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.
