blotting out

verb

present participle of blot out
1
as in eradicating
to destroy all traces of blotted out all evidence of tampering with the explosive device

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in concealing
to keep secret or shut off from view bushes blotted out the shed from our view

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of blotting out For a few minutes at each end of that window, the moon’s edge will appear to align with that of the sun, blotting out the star’s fierce light and revealing the wispy corona off to one side. — Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 6 Apr. 2026 From up in the space shuttle, in 1983, astronaut Sally Ride could see the pollution blotting out her Los Angeles hometown. — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2026 Is the army coming, blotting out the sun? — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 23 Mar. 2026 And Hanceville’s fate is as murky as the fog that pours in at night, blotting out buildings and blackening the road ahead. — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 7 Feb. 2026 But two shootings of US citizens and scenes of unrest in Minnesota are blotting out any hope of that. — Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 27 Jan. 2026 Unfortunately, the 2025 Perseids happened to coincide with the appearance of a waxing gibbous moon, which bleached the sky with moonlight, blotting out all but the brightest members of the ancient meteor shower. — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blotting out
  1. eradicating
  2. concealing
  3. erasing
  4. hiding
  5. abolishing
  6. obscuring
  7. wiping out
  8. covering
Verb
  • Tlaib is also a prominent critic of Israel; her rhetoric has been chastised by Jewish colleagues as an antisemitic call for eradicating Jews, a charge the congresswoman and her supporters reject.
    — Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026
  • That method, called Sterile Insect Technique, was originally successful in eradicating flies from the United States and Central America and pushing the screwworm population back beyond the Darién Gap at the border of Panama and Colombia.
    — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of eradicating
Verb
  • Laken Snelling had initially pleaded not guilty after a grand jury indicted her on several charges, including first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.
    — Minyvonne Burke, NBC news, 21 Aug. 2026
  • The proud mom shared pictures of her and Green cuddling their little one in the hospital room, concealing the newborn’s face in the snaps.
    — Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of concealing
Verb
  • This has triggered a critical internal shift, with advocacy groups noting that the administration is actively erasing the diverse history and cultural representation that national parks protect.
    — Kimmie Gordon, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Around that time, gold and silver had fallen to seven-month lows, erasing some of the gains the metals made during a historic price rally that ended in January of this year.
    — Conor Murray, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of erasing
Verb
  • After six months of war, the deadlock has left the Islamic Republic bitterly divided, while its ultimate arbiter, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, remains in hiding.
    — Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The 66 percent hiding this are not asking to be excused from the job.
    — Jasmine Browley, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of hiding
Verb
  • Debates over abolishing or scaling back the institution, which occasionally flare up in the United Kingdom and other nations, are rare in Norway.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
  • While his party debates abolishing prisons and owning grocery stores, Democratic Mayor Daniel Lurie is cleaning up his city.
    — Kate Andrews, Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of abolishing
Verb
  • Forward vision is excellent because there’s no roof, A-pillars, or much of anything obscuring your view (the only model above the Signature Edition, called the Grand Touring, does include a roof of sorts).
    — William Roberson, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • The glass is reeded and translucent, obscuring the line cooks behind it.
    — Alexis Benveniste, Architectural Digest, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of obscuring
Verb
  • Shares slumped 16% for a third straight session of losses, wiping out $400 billion in market cap on Monday alone.
    — Gail Krishnan, CNBC, 23 June 2026
  • The prospect of even a mini-Dust Bowl is alarming as the original disaster during the Great Depression sent dust clouds across rural America, wiping out entire communities and triggering mass migration to other parts of the country.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 21 June 2026
Definition of wiping out
Verb
  • Pack a tube of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) in your first aid kit instead of antibiotic ointment and remember to flush all scrapes and cuts with copious amounts of clean water before covering them with the jelly.
    — Dr. Jill Grimes, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Ground surveys can provide more detailed information at a particular site, but covering an entire subway corridor that way would be difficult.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of covering

Browse Nearby Words

blotting
blotting out
blotto
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Blotting out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blotting%20out. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All