rub out
Britishverb
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to remove or be removed with a rubber
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slang to murder
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Australian rules football to suspend (a player)
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Obliterate or erase by, or as if by, rubbing. For example, Bill was so busy rubbing out the old markings that he forgot to put in new ones . [Mid-1600s]
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Murder, kill, as in They threatened to rub him out if he didn't pay up . [ Slang ; mid-1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He fidgets endlessly with his hands as if trying to rub out the scars.
From BBC • Jul. 25, 2023
After the war, they saw no need to rub out their past.
From Reuters • Oct. 26, 2022
“I’m really sensitive to it,” she said, trying to rub out a stain from coffee she’d just spilled on her dress.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2022
I rub out a lot and redraw to get it right.
From The Guardian • Nov. 25, 2017
I put my hands to my face and scrubbed them against my cheeks, trying to rub out the memories.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
