wipeout
Americannoun
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wipeouts
plural
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Informal. destruction, annihilation, or murder.
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Informal. (in sports) a decisive defeat.
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a fall from a surfboard.
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Slang. a total or complete failure.
to suffer a wipeout in the stock market.
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Slang. complete physical exhaustion.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of wipeout
First recorded in 1920–25; noun use of verb phrase wipe out
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:
Predictions of an AI-driven hiring wipeout have yet to materialize.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
His entire store is completely closed, facing structural damage, food and product loss and a complete wipeout of their inventory.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
If that holds, it would mark the eighth-largest one-day wipeout of market cap for any U.S. company on record.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
The selloff on Thursday erased $286 billion in market capitalization—the fourth largest one-day valuation wipeout for any U.S. company on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
Daniel Jacobs, the communication director for The Science Coalition, said the board’s wipeout actually hurts the country, and puts it on the back foot.
From Salon ● May 2, 2026
The market’s typical reaction to tech stock wipeouts like the one on Friday has been a strong bounce the following session.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
“But you’ve got to avoid the wipeouts and you’ve got to be positioned at all times for the next wave coming, and it’s a never-ending process,” he told MarketWatch in an interview on Monday.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 4, 2026
But there were no crashes on a course that has a track record for some gruesome wipeouts and evacuation by helicopter, a boost ahead of the February 6-22 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
From Barron's ● Jan. 24, 2026
There have already been some spectacular wipeouts in Olympic warm-up sessions, but so far no serious injuries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2024
As Wang explained, shifting in his seat and gesturing with his hands throughout, Alameda earned an “allow_negative” badge because it helped the firm sidestep the automatic procedures Wang implemented to prevent account overdraws and wipeouts.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2023
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.
