See Also: wipe(medicine)
wipe(1)(dictionary)
wipe(2)(dictionary)
wipe-out(dictionary)
side-wipe(dictionary)
wipe 1, verb(dictionary)
wipe 2, noun(dictionary)

wipe(2) (iou)



wipe verb.
[Old English wipian, corresp. formally to Old High German wifan wind round, Gothic weipan crown (cf. waips wreath), rel. to base of WHIP verb.]
verb trans. Rub (something) gently with a soft cloth, a hand, etc., or on something else, so as to clear the surface of dust, dirt, moisture, etc.; clean or dry in this way. OE.
P. Fitzgerald Daisy..wiped her face with the back of her hand. A. Huth Rosie looked down at her earth-stained fingers...She wiped them on..her dress. N. Williams It was Henry who..scrubbed the kitchen floor, wiped down the surfaces.
verb trans. Remove or clear away (moisture, dirt, dust, etc.) from something by gentle rubbing. Freq. foll. by away, off, up. OE.
M. Warner He..stopped to wipe the chalky dust from his shined shoes. Which? Wipe up spills to stop children..slipping. J. C. Oates Her eyes began to sting with tears she wiped impatiently away.
verb intrans. Be removed by wiping. Foll. by off, away. ME.
Oxford English Dictionary The spots will easily wipe off.
verb trans. Take away completely, as by theft or fraud; make off with. ME-M17.
verb trans.
a. Remove or clear away or off (something deleterious, unwanted, or offensive). LME-M17.
b. Take or put away (a stain, a defilement); remove the guilt, blame, or dishonour of; clear a person, or oneself, of (a charge or imputation). Usu. foll. by away, off, out. LME.
Defoe By his fidelity to wipe out all that was past.
c. Foll. by away, out: efface, erase (something written or painted). Now rare or obsolete. M16.
d. Foll. by off: cancel (an account or score); discharge, pay off (a debt). Also, subtract (a certain portion) from a value, debt, etc. M17.
Guardian Share dealers reacted by wiping 12 per cent off the company's stock market value.
verb trans. Clear or cleanse from or of something. Chiefly fig. LME.
Independent Amendments which could wipe the US cupboard bare of foreign investment capital.
verb trans. Strike, beat, or attack (with a blow, or verbally). Long dial. & slang. E16.
verb trans. Deprive, rob, cheat of some possession or advantage. Foll. by of, from. M16-M18.
verb trans. Usu. foll. by out, occas. away, off, etc.
a. Obliterate, efface; destroy or greatly reduce the effect or value of, eliminate; (foll. by out) do away with, put an end to, abolish, annihilate. M16.
P. Carter I just wanted to forget, to wipe out the past. Independent A counter-offensive..could wipe away all the gains the resistance has made. Nature Drift nets could wipe out the South Pacific's albacore tuna fishery.
b. spec. Destroy completely, exterminate (a body of people). Also slang, kill (a person). Foll. by out. L16.
Century Magazine A tragedy which wiped out an entire crew.
verb trans. Apply or spread (a soft or liquid substance) over a surface by rubbing with a cloth, pad, etc.; apply a substance to (an object) in this way; spec. in Plumbing, apply solder by this method to finish off a joint (cf. WIPED ppl adjective 1). L18.
verb trans.
a. Erase (a magnetic recording, data stored on a magnetic medium). Freq. foll. by off, out. E20.
Independent Several viruses..which can wipe information from computer hard discs.
b. Remove a recording or stored data from (a magnetic tape, memory, etc.). M20.
E. Salter The tape was sometimes wiped so's it could be used again.
verb trans. Demagnetize (a ship) by passing a horizontal current-carrying cable up and down the hull; degauss. colloq. M20.
verb intrans. = DRY verb 5. Also foll. by up. M20.
R. V. Beste He wiped while Huskion..scrubbed away in the sink.
verb trans. Dismiss, reject, repudiate (esp. a person). Austral. & NZ slang. M20.
verb intrans. Cinematography & Television. Pass from or from one scene to another by means of a wipe. M20.
verb intrans. & trans. (in pass.). Foll. by out: orig. spec. in Surfing, fall or be knocked from one's surfboard, or from a wave; now also more widely, fall or crash while manoeuvring a skateboard, bicycle, skis, etc. Cf. WIPE-OUT 2. slang. M20.
verb trans. Foll. by out: overwhelm, overcome; spec. (of drink etc.) render intoxicated or senseless. slang (orig. US). L20.
verb trans. Pass (a plastic card) by hand through a device that reads data encoded on it; pass (a light-pen) over a bar code for the same purpose. L20.
Which? When you hand over your card to pay, the shop assistant wipes it through the terminal.
Phrases & comb.: wipe-clean adjective designating fabrics or furnishings that may be cleaned simply by wiping. wipe one's eye, wipe a person's eye slang (a) orig., shoot a game-bird missed by a companion; now gen., get the better of, score off; (b) punch in the eye. wipe the off a person's face, wipe the off one's face, etc., colloq. (cause a person to) cease showing the facial expression indicated by the noun (smile etc.). wipe the floor with: see FLOOR noun. wipe the slate clean: see SLATE noun. wiping head a head for removing a recording from magnetic tape or wire; an erase head.
wipeable adjective able to be wiped; esp. easily wiped clean: E20.