wipe out

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

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

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

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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

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