rule out

verb

ruled out; ruling out; rules out

transitive verb

1

: exclude, eliminate

They were ruled out as candidates for the job.

2

: to make impossible : prevent

Heavy rain ruled out the picnic.

Synonyms of rule out

• exclude
• ban
• bar
• eliminate
• shut out
• freeze out
• prevent
• prohibit

Examples of rule out in a Sentence

another loss would rule them out of the tournament

Recent Examples on the Web

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out ceding territory occupied by Russian forces and has said Ukrainian sovereignty of Crimea must be restored. —CNN Money, 1 June 2026

Anthropic initially ruled out taking the region’s money on national security and moral grounds, only to backtrack. —Kelsey Warner, semafor.com, 1 June 2026

Experts have ruled out the possibility that the tunnel was part of an ancient water system, and some posit the site may have been abandoned before construction was completed. —Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 1 June 2026

In São Paulo, Brazil, the health department ruled out Ebola in a man who had recently traveled to Congo and had tested positive for meningitis. —Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 1 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1658, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for rule out

• roundabout
• runabout
• sauerkraut
• thereabout
• turnabout
• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout

Kids Definition

rule out

verb

: to eliminate the possibility of