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wipe

Pronunciation: /waɪp/

The English word “wipe” has 20 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.)
  2. To smear (a substance) with this kind of motion.
  3. To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; usually followed by away, off, or out.
  4. To clean (the anus, buttocks and/or genitals) after defecation or urination.
  5. To erase.
  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.
  7. To remove an expression from one's face.
  8. To deperm (a ship).
  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.
  10. To hit or strike.
  11. To cheat; to defraud; to trick; usually followed by out.
  12. To have all members of a party die in a single campaign, event, or battle; to be wiped out.

noun

  1. The act of wiping something.
  2. A soft piece of cloth or cloth-like material used for wiping.
  3. A handkerchief.
  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.
  5. A sarcastic remark; a reproof, a jibe.
  6. A blow or swipe; the act of striking somebody or something.
  7. A lapwing, especially a northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).
  8. An instance of all members of a party dying in a single campaign, event, or battle; a wipeout.

Etymology

From Middle English wipen, from Old English wīpian (“to wipe, rub, cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *wīpōn (“to wipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to twist, wind around”). Cognate with German wippen (“to bob”), Swedish veva (“to turn, wind, crank”), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍀𐌰𐌽 (weipan, “to wreathe, crown”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”), Sanskrit वेपते (vépate, “to…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.