blue-penciling

verb

present participle of blue-pencil
as in deleting
to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it military censors blue-penciled any remarks that could possibly be deemed critical

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for blue-penciling
  1. deleting
  2. canceling
Verb
  • Talk about meeting The Challenge — the latest challenge to the Swedish version of the popular reality-TV show has met its match by way of an apparent AI agent, which is being blamed for deleting its entire new season.
    — Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Jarvis sacrifices himself to stabilize Vision’s mind, deleting his code and shifting his processing power to the other AIs to keep them functional.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of deleting
Verb
  • What transpired in-between the curtain raiser and final pose was much like what had gone down the previous night in Cincinnati, at the first public gig the Beach Boys had done since canceling a slew of dates beginning in July.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
  • In an interview with Tulsa news station Fox23, Meulenberg also emphasized that the department did not recommend canceling the concert.
    — Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of canceling
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.

Browse Nearby Words

blue-penciled
blue-penciling
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Cite this Entry

“Blue-penciling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blue-penciling. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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