wipeout

US: (wīp′out′)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wipe•out  (wīp′out′), n. 

1. Informal Terms destruction, annihilation, or murder.
2. Sport (in sports) [Informal.] a decisive defeat.
3. Sport a fall from a surfboard.
4. Slang Terms a total or complete failure:
   to suffer a wipeout in the stock market.
5. Slang Terms complete physical exhaustion.

Also, wipe′-out′. 

• noun, nominal use of verb, verbal phrase wipe out 1920–25

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

wipe /waɪp/   v., wiped, wip•ing, n. 
v. 

1. to clean or dry by patting or rubbing:
   [~ + object] to wipe the furniture clean; to wipe the dishes.
2. to remove by or as if by rubbing:
   [~ + object] wiped the tears from her eyes; Wipe that thought from your mind.
3. wipe out:
   • to destroy completely: [~ + out + object]
     They wiped out the supply depots.
     [~ + object + out]
     The crews wiped them out.
   • to murder: [~ + out  + object]
     to wipe out his gangland rivals.
     [~ + object + out]
     to wipe them out.

n. [countable]

4. an act of wiping.

wip•er, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wipe  (wīp), v., wiped, wip•ing, n. 
v.t. 

1. 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.
2. to rub or draw (something) over a surface, as in cleaning or drying.
3. to remove by rubbing with or on something (usually fol. by away, off, out, etc.):
   Wipe the dirt off your shoes. Wipe the dust from the pictures.
4. to remove as if by rubbing (usually fol. by away, off, etc.):
   Wipe that smile off your face!
5. to erase, as from existence or memory (often fol. by from):
   to wipe a thought from one's mind.
6. to erase (magnetic tape, a recording, etc.).
7. Building [Plumbing.]
   • Building to apply (solder in a semifluid state) by spreading with leather or cloth over the part to be soldered.
   • Building to form (a joint) in this manner.
8. Mechanical Engineering [Mach.] (of a rotating shaft or the like) to melt the brasses of (a bearing) through friction.
9. British Terms [Australian Slang.] to refuse to have anything to do with;
   reject;
   dismiss.
10. wipe out:
    • to destroy completely;
      demolish:
      The entire city was wiped out.
    • [Informal.] to murder;
      kill:
      They wiped him out to keep him from testifying.
    • [Slang.] to beat decisively, as in sports.
    • [Slang.] (in sports) to be taken out of competition by a fall, accident, collision, etc.
    • [Slang.] to intoxicate or cause to become high, esp. on narcotic drugs.
11. wipe up, to clean completely by wiping:
    to wipe up the mess on the floor.

n. 

12. an act of wiping:
    He gave a few quick wipes to the furniture.
13. a rub, as of one thing over another.
14. Show Business Also called wipe′-off′. [Motion Pictures.] 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.
15. a piece of absorbent material, as of paper or cloth, used for wiping.
16. a sweeping stroke or blow.
17. a gibe.
18. Mechanical Engineering [Mach.] wiper (def. 5).
19. [Slang.] a handkerchief.

• bef. 1000; Middle English (verb, verbal), Old English wīpian; cognate with Old High German wīfan to wind round, Gothic weipan to crown; perh. akin to Latin vibrāre to move to and fro

Synonyms

• 4. erase, eradicate, banish.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

wipe out verb (adverb)

1. (transitive) to destroy completely; eradicate
2. (transitive) to murder or kill
3. (intransitive) to fall or jump off a surfboard or skateboard

noun wipeout

1. an act or instance of wiping out
2. the interference of one radio signal by another so that reception is impossible