Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To eliminate completely; to destroy totally: To remove or annihilate something so that it no longer exists or functions.
   • To use up entirely; to exhaust: To consume all of a resource, supply, or energy.
   • To erase or cancel out: To nullify the effect or existence of something.

Usage and Examples

• To eliminate/destroy completely:
  • The epidemic threatened to wipe out the entire village.
  • The new policy could wipe out small businesses in the area.
• To use up/exhaust:
  • The long journey wiped out our supplies of food and water.
  • That workout completely wiped me out; I have no energy left.
• To erase/cancel out:
  • The gains in the first quarter were wiped out by losses in the second.
  • One bad test score can wipe out your chances for the scholarship.

Advanced Usage

• Reflexive/Passive Sense (to be wiped out): To be extremely tired or exhausted.
  • After running the marathon, I was completely wiped out.
• In Finance/Commerce: To describe the total loss of value or capital.
  • The stock market crash wiped out millions in investments.

Variants and Related Words

• Wipeout (noun): A complete failure or collapse; a fall from a surfboard or similar craft.
  • The company's bankruptcy was a total wipeout.
  • The surfer had a nasty wipeout on the big wave.

Synonyms

• Annihilate: To destroy completely.
• Exterminate: To destroy totally, often referring to living things.
• Deplete: To use up a resource.
• Erase: To remove all traces.
• Obliterate: To destroy utterly.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Wipe away: To remove (e.g., tears, dirt) by wiping.
  • She wiped away her tears.
• Wipe off: To remove something from a surface.
  • Please wipe off the table.
• Wipe up: To clean a liquid by wiping.
  • Could you wipe up that spilled milk?

Related Idioms

• (To be) wiped off the map: To be completely destroyed or eliminated.
  • The ancient city was wiped off the map by the volcanic eruption.
• Wipe the slate clean: To forget past mistakes or debts and start again.
  • Let's wipe the slate clean and begin our partnership anew. (Note: This idiom uses "wipe," not the full phrasal verb "wipe out.")

Verb

1. wipe out the effect of something
   • The new tax effectively cancels out my raise
   • The `A' will cancel out the `C' on your record
2. mark for deletion, rub off, or erase
   • kill these lines in the President's speech
3. remove from memory or existence
   • The Turks erased the Armenians in 1915
4. eliminate completely and without a trace
   • The old values have been wiped out
5. kill in large numbers
   • the plague wiped out an entire population
6. use up (resources or materials)
   • this car consumes a lot of gas
   • We exhausted our savings
   • They run through 20 bottles of wine a week