as in to delete
to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it
military censors blue-penciled any remarks that could possibly be deemed critical
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Recent Examples of blue-pencil
Before getting sunk by a turgid love story — the kind of cinematic dead zone Thalberg would have blue-penciled in the screenplay stage — The Last Tycoon provides a good sense of what a producer actually does.
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Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2025
Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blue-pencil
Verb
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While it was later discovered that the explosion was caused by a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired, MSF neither corrected nor deleted its condemnation, which is still available on X but has a community note.—
Rachel Wolf,
FOXNews.com,
11 Oct. 2025
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The posts, many made as replies to Pulte’s tweets, were not widely read and often deleted, according to court records.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The brand canceled the show indefinitely in 2019 amid controversy surrounding representation and inclusivity.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
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In recent years, some Wyandotte residents have tried to get the government to delay or cancel its tax sales, which usually happen twice a year, to prevent people who have struggled to pay sky-rocketing property tax bills from losing their family homes.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
18 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Blue-pencil.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blue-pencil. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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