wipe the slate clean
idiom
: to forget all the things that have happened or been done and start doing something again : to start again from the very beginning
She wishes she could wipe the slate clean and start over in a different career.
Examples of wipe the slate clean in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
With the average refund at $3,300 and the average U.S. household carrying about $8,000 in credit card debt, though, most of us won’t be able to wipe the slate clean entirely.
—
Dan Avery, CNBC, 19 Mar. 2025
The pardons will also wipe the slate clean for violent offenders who went after the police on Jan. 6 with baseball bats, two-by-fours and bear spray and are serving prison terms, in some cases of more than a decade.
—Alan Feuer, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2025
President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory doesn’t wipe the slate clean in Manhattan’s courthouses, legal officials said Tuesday.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 11 Dec. 2024
And while the sting of defeat is hard, learning to wipe the slate clean, push the reset button, and focus on the next task at hand is crucial in every field.
—Raul Fernandez, Fortune, 20 Nov. 2024
Here is her chance to wipe the slate clean, eliminate the Trump tariffs once and for all and reduce costs for new construction.
—Aden Barton, Washington Post, 24 July 2024
That doesn’t mean that the government must wipe the slate clean entirely.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 22 July 2024
But in Ramose’s view, the decision to wipe the slate clean conflicted with the tenets of African philosophy and, in particular, with the notion of molato ga o bole, a Sotho proverb that holds that debts do not expire with the passage of time and can be resolved only through redress and restoration.
—Sisonke Msimang, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
To put Kelce into the mix might be too much…or a way to wipe the slate clean?
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 9 Apr. 2024
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Dan Avery, CNBC, 19 Mar. 2025
The pardons will also wipe the slate clean for violent offenders who went after the police on Jan. 6 with baseball bats, two-by-fours and bear spray and are serving prison terms, in some cases of more than a decade.
—Alan Feuer, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2025
President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory doesn’t wipe the slate clean in Manhattan’s courthouses, legal officials said Tuesday.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 11 Dec. 2024
And while the sting of defeat is hard, learning to wipe the slate clean, push the reset button, and focus on the next task at hand is crucial in every field.
—Raul Fernandez, Fortune, 20 Nov. 2024
Here is her chance to wipe the slate clean, eliminate the Trump tariffs once and for all and reduce costs for new construction.
—Aden Barton, Washington Post, 24 July 2024
That doesn’t mean that the government must wipe the slate clean entirely.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 22 July 2024
But in Ramose’s view, the decision to wipe the slate clean conflicted with the tenets of African philosophy and, in particular, with the notion of molato ga o bole, a Sotho proverb that holds that debts do not expire with the passage of time and can be resolved only through redress and restoration.
—Sisonke Msimang, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
To put Kelce into the mix might be too much…or a way to wipe the slate clean?
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 9 Apr. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Wipe the slate clean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wipe%20the%20slate%20clean. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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