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to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it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.
—
Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2025
Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blue-pencil
Verb
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Click the right arrow and mark as known or delete the spam.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
27 Sep. 2025
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The student cited a study that was recently deleted by the Department of Justice, which decisively stated that right-wing political violence is much more common than left-wing violence, on which Kirk's assassination has been blamed.—
Michael Nied,
PEOPLE,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This simple transmitter plugs into the headphone jack on your screen and connects to your favorite noise-canceling headphones to drown out the sounds of other passengers while allowing for hours of entertainment with your own personal earbuds.—
Merrell Readman,
Travel + Leisure,
27 Sep. 2025
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While airlines don't yet have travel advisories for travel to and from Phoenix, airlines generally rebook passengers on the next available flight at no additional cost when a flight is canceled or delayed.—
Michael Salerno,
AZCentral.com,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Blue-pencil.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blue-pencil. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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