wipe — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.)

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   Melissa wiped her glasses with her shirt.

   I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand.

   More examples (2)

   Tom started to wipe his eyes.

   So they passed through the Palace Gates and were led into a big room with a green carpet and lovely green furniture set with emeralds. The soldier made them all wipe their feet upon a green mat before entering this room, and when they were seated he said politely[…]

2. To smear (a substance) with this kind of motion.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   You've wiped grease all over your shirt.

3. To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; usually followed by away, off, or out.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon.

   So the plot is that he wipes half the population?

4. To clean (the anus, buttocks and/or genitals) after defecation or urination.

   Usage

   • Transitive or intransitive

   Examples

   I had nothing to wipe my bum with.

   Even if you wipe very carefully, you still have to wash your hands afterward.

5. To erase.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   I accidentally wiped my hard drive.

6. To make (a joint, as between pieces of lead pipe), by surrounding the junction with a mass of solder, applied in a plastic condition by means of a rag with which the solder is shaped by rubbing.

   Usage

   • Transitive

7. To remove an expression from one's face.

   Usage

   • Figurative

   Examples

   You should wipe that smirk off your face before the boss comes in.

   Please wipe that look out of your eyes, it's bribing me to doubt myself.

8. To deperm (a ship).

   Usage

   • Transitive

9. To perform a transition in which one scene or slide is replaced with another over time along a horizontal axis, as if one scene or slide is a layer being slid off the other.

   Examples

   Steve-O tells the camera, “Don’t worry; the next skit’s gonna be amazing”; he then pretends to grab the side of the screen, which “wipes” to the next shot.

10. To hit or strike.

    Usage

    • UK usage
    • Obsolete
    • Slang

11. To cheat; to defraud; to trick; usually followed by out.

    Usage

    • Obsolete

    Examples

    The English, which they thinke lye still in wayte to wipe them out of theyr landes.

    If they by coveyne [covin] or gile be wiped beside their goods.

Noun

1. The act of wiping something.

   Examples

   multiple wipes of a computer's hard disk

2. A soft piece of cloth or cloth-like material used for wiping.

   Narrower terms

   wet wipe

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   When on a plane or train, don't take anything into the bathroom except baby, a changing pad, a diaper, a travel packet of wipes, and a bottle of hand sanitizer. Always use a wipe on the area before you put your baby down.

3. A handkerchief.

   Usage

   • UK usage
   • Obsolete
   • Slang

   Examples

   "Now, my kiveys, shy up your castors, tie your bird's-eye wipes to the stakes, and go to work."

   More examples (1)

   All fighting coves you too must know, / Ben Caunt as well as Bendigo, / And to each mill be sure to go, / […] And you must sport a blue billy, / Or a yellow wipe […]

4. A kind of film transition where one shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the frame to another or with a special shape.

   Synonyms

   wipeoff

5. A sarcastic remark; a reproof, a jibe.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

   Examples

   I could not help giving Metcalfe a wipe for his lamentations, observing I should have thought he had enough to attend to at home.

6. A blow or swipe; the act of striking somebody or something.

   Usage

   • UK usage
   • Obsolete
   • Slang

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   He rode close up to a French officer, and so much in advance of his men that the Frenchman thought he was going to surrender, and dropped his sword, when Penrice gave him a wipe over his head.

Noun

1. A lapwing, especially a northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).

Verb

1. To have all members of a party die in a single campaign, event, or battle; to be wiped out.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

   Examples

   If you try to fight that boss underprepared, you're definitely gonna wipe.

Noun

1. An instance of all members of a party dying in a single campaign, event, or battle; a wipeout.

   Synonyms

   TPK

Noun

1. the act of rubbing or wiping

   Synonyms

   rub

   Broader terms

   contactphysical contact

   Examples

   he gave the hood a quick rub

Verb

1. rub with a circular motion

   Synonyms

   pass over

   Broader terms

   rub

   Examples

   wipe the blackboard

   He passed his hands over the soft cloth