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rubout. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
rubout, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
rubout in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
rubout you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
Deverbal from rub out.
Pronunciation
Noun
rubout (plural rubouts)
- An instance of erasing with a rubber.
- (slang, by extension) An assassination.
2007 June 8, Holland Cotter, “Quirks and Attitude to Burn”, in New York Times:This high-concept take on low life includes a concealed lethal weapon (by Claire Fontaine); photographic evidence of a rubout (by Torbjorn Rodland); and cryptic, possibly sinister messages galore from Tauba Auerbach, Daniel Knorr, David Lieske and Matias Faldbakken.
- (computing, uncountable, by extension, dated) Synonym of backspace.
1990, Michael D. Harrison, Harold Thimbleby, Formal methods in human-computer interaction, page 130:A direct manipulation editor would support, for example, a single rubout key that uses the cursor to find the appropriate character for deletion […]
2002, Brotha G, “ZX81 Prototype Keyboard”, in comp.sys.sinclair (Usenet):The TS-1000 had ENTER instead of NEW LINE and DELETE instead of RUBOUT.