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.
Robotaxis and robots, which are rolling out quickly, will wipe out some of those roles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
"The main thing that can wipe out humanity is stupidity," he said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
The message said her servicer would receive a file once a month with accounts to wipe out and that her servicer would notify her when her loan discharge was processed, according to the complaint.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
Osinski said it would cause "regional devastation on a scale that would wipe out major cities and have global climate impacts."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
Very early on, the colonizers recognized that smallpox could easily wipe out an Indigenous population, leaving land available for settlement.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
