wipe out - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

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

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

? References in classic literature
At fifty-five he began life again, determined with his pen to wipe out the debt. English Literature For Boys And Girls by Marshall, H.E. View in context Then he drove away twelve heifers and a hundred cows never yoked, and the bull who mounted the cows, fastening to the tail of each one brushwood to wipe out the footmarks of the cows. Collection Of Hesiod, Homer and Homerica by Homer View in context And he did not stop there; for in order to wipe out the memory of what they had undergone, he commanded that the tailor, the doctor, the purveyor and the merchant, should each be clothed in his presence with a robe from his own wardrobe before they returned home. The Arabian Nights by Lang, Andrew View in context More results

? References in classic literature

At fifty-five he began life again, determined with his pen to wipe out the debt.

English Literature For Boys And Girls by Marshall, H.E. View in context

Then he drove away twelve heifers and a hundred cows never yoked, and the bull who mounted the cows, fastening to the tail of each one brushwood to wipe out the footmarks of the cows.

Collection Of Hesiod, Homer and Homerica by Homer View in context

And he did not stop there; for in order to wipe out the memory of what they had undergone, he commanded that the tailor, the doctor, the purveyor and the merchant, should each be clothed in his presence with a robe from his own wardrobe before they returned home.

The Arabian Nights by Lang, Andrew View in context

More results