wipe

wipe someone or something (off) (with something)

to clean someone or something by wiping with something. Tony wiped the baby off with a soft cloth. Jane wiped off the counter with a rag. Tom fell in the mud and asked Ralph to wipe him off.

wipe someone or something off

to clean something off someone or something by wiping. She wiped the baby off and put clean clothes on him. Please wipe off your shoes. John fell in the mud and Sam wiped him off.

wipe someone or something off the face of the earth

Fig. to demolish every trace of someone or something. A great storm will come and wipe all the people off the face of the earth. The wind blew my old barn off the face of the earth! Nothing was left.

See also: earth, face

wipe someone's slate clean and wipe the slate clean

Fig. to get rid of or erase someone's (bad) record. (As if erasing information recorded on a slate.) I'd like to wipe my slate clean and start all over again. Bob did badly in high school, but he wiped his slate clean and did a good job in college.

See also: and, clean, slate

wipe someone out 

1. Sl. to kill someone. Max intended to wipe Lefty's gang out. Lefty wiped out Max's gang.

2. . Sl to exhaust or debilitate someone. The long walk wiped me out. The trip wiped out the hikers.

3. . Inf. to ruin someone financially. The loss of my job wiped us out. The storm ruined the corn crop and wiped out everyone in the county.

See also: out

wipe something (off) (on something)

to remove something by wiping it on something else. Don't wipe your feet off on the carpet. Don't wipe off your feet on the carpet, wipe them on the mat.

wipe something away

to clean or mop something away. Wipe all this mud away and scrub the floor clean. Jake wiped away the mud.

See also: away

wipe something down

to rub or mop something down. Wipe the counter down and keep it clean! Don will wipe down the counter.

wipe something off 

1. to remove something (from something else) by wiping or rubbing. There is mud on your shirt. Please wipe it off. I must wipe off the ketchup from my shirt.

2. to tidy or clean something by wiping (something else) off. Please wipe the table off. There's water on it. Wipe off your shirt. There's ketchup on it.

wipe something off (one's face)

1. . Lit. to remove something, such as food or dirt, from one's own face. Wipe that peanut butter off your face!

2. Fig. to remove a smile, grin, silly look, etc., from one's face. Wipe that silly grin off your face, private! Wipe that smile off!

wipe something out

Sl. to use up all of something. I wiped the cookies out—not all at once, of course. Who wiped out the strawberry preserves?

See also: out

wipe something up 

1. to clean something up by wiping. Please wipe that spilled milk up. Jim wiped up the spill.

2. to clean something dirty by wiping. The floor was sticky so I wiped it up. Please wipe up the countertop.

See also: up

Wipe it off!

Inf. Wipe that smile off your face! It's not funny. Wipe it off! Wipe it off! Nothing funny here, soldier.

wipe out 

1. Inf. to crash. I wiped out on the curve. The car wiped out on the curve.

2. . Inf. to fall off or away from something, such as a bicycle, skates, a surfboard, a skateboard, etc. I wiped out and skinned my knee. If I wipe out again, my mother says I'm through.

3. Inf. to fail badly. The test was terrible! I'm sure I wiped out. It was a bad test. I wiped out for sure.

See also: out

wipe the floor up with someone

Inf. to beat or physically abuse someone. (Usually said as a threat.) You say that to me one more time, and I'll wipe the floor up with you. Oh, yeah! You're not big enough to wipe up the floor with anybody!

See also: floor, up

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[blow/bomb/wipe etc.] something/swh off the map

to destroy something completely, especially with bombs At least eight Spanish warships were blown off the map.

See also: blow, map

wipe the floor with somebody   (British, American & Australian) also mop the floor with somebody (American)

to defeat someone easily Alex is always really good in a debate, she'll wipe the floor with them.

See also: floor

wipe the smile off somebody's face

to make someone feel less happy or confident, especially someone who is annoying you because they think they are very clever Tell him you saw Helena at the cinema with another guy - that should wipe the smile off his face.

See wipe the floor with

See also: face, smile

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wipe somewhere off the map

to cause a place to stop existing The flood of 1965 almost wiped the town off the map.

See also: map

wipe out

to have a very serious accident Jim wiped out on the ice and broke his leg. He was driving crazily and wiped out on a curve.

Usage notes: usually someone wipes out because they are going too fast

See also: out

wipe out (somebody/something) also wipe somebody/something out

1. to destroy someone or something We were ordered to wipe out a small enemy force hiding in the village. The floods wiped whole villages out.

2. to cause someone to lose or spend all their money My neighbor was totally wiped out by the last recession. A night out with Paul and Michelle just about wiped us out.

See also: out

wipe the slate clean

to forget all past problems or mistakes and start something again Rogers hoped he could wipe the slate clean and forget about his failed business.

Usage notes: also used in the form have a clean slate: She wanted to have a clean slate to start with.

See also: clean, slate

wipe the smile off your face also wipe that smile off your face

to stop looking happy or pleased You'll feel so good, you won't be able to wipe the smile off your face.

See also: face, smile