wipe

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.)
2. (transitive) To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; usually followed by away, off, or out.
3. (transitive) To smear (a substance) with this kind of motion.
4. (obsolete) To cheat; to defraud; to trick; usually followed by out.
5. (ambitransitive) To clean (the anus and buttocks) after defecation.
6. (transitive) To erase.
7. (transitive) 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.
8. (figuratively) To remove an expression from one's face.
9. (transitive) To deperm (a ship).
10. 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.
11. (UK, obsolete, slang) To hit or strike.

Noun

1. The act of wiping something.
2. A soft piece of cloth or cloth-like material used for wiping.
3. (UK, obsolete, slang) 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. (obsolete) A sarcastic remark; a reproof, a jibe.
6. (UK, obsolete, slang) A blow or swipe; the act of striking somebody or something.

Noun

A lapwing, especially a northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).

Noun

An instance of all members of a party dying in a single campaign, event, or battle; a wipeout.

Synonyms

rub

clean

wipe off

erase

scrub

dry

brush

delete

mop

rub off

polish

🇵🇱

swab

dust

sweep

rub out

scour

smear

rub away

wash

🧽

wipe out

clear

cleanse

remove

towel

whisk

spread

strike

plaster

burnish

brush off

scrape

pass over

lick

wipe forehead

make a note

measure

dry up

overspread

pass

percussion

dry out

purify

rake

raze

record

liquid knockout

drag

do over

destroy

scavenge

Translations

essuyer

wischen

wissen

limpiar

eixugar

enjugar

vegen

esfregar

effacer

afvegen

abwischen

enxugar

asciugare

strofinare

nettoyer

Pronounced as (IPA)

/waɪp/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: wipen

Inherited from Old English: wīpian

Cognate with German: wippen

Cognate with Swedish: veva

Cognate with Gothic: 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍀𐌰𐌽

Cognate with Old English: swīfan

Cognate with Sanskrit: वेपते

Cognate with Swedish: vipa

Cognate with Danish: vibe

In summary

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 tremble”). More at swivel, swift.