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rub out. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
rub out, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
rub out in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
rub out you have here. The definition of the word
rub out will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
rub out, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Verb
rub out (third-person singular simple present rubs out, present participle rubbing out, simple past and past participle rubbed out)
- (transitive) To delete or erase or remove (something) by rubbing, especially with a rubber (eraser).
- Coordinate term: rub off
- The teacher wanted to rub out the chalk marks on the blackboard.
- (obsolete) To get by; to live.
- (transitive, criminal slang) To kill, especially to murder.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:kill
1942, James Thurber, The Catbird Seat:It was just a week to the day since Mr. Martin had decided to rub out Mrs. Ulgine Barrows.
2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN:'Mr Grimaldi,' fills in Smoke, 'what I believe Fay has too much tact to spit out and say is this: the Rey woman might be imagining we rubbed out Dr Sixsmith.'
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see rub, out.
Usage notes
- In both transitive senses the object may appear before or after the particle. If the object is a pronoun, then it must be before the particle.
Derived terms
Translations
delete or erase by rubbing
Translations to be checked