RUBBED OUT Synonyms: 211 Similar and Opposite Words

rubbed out

verb

past tense of rub out

as in destroyed

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of aerial bombs rubbed out the oil refinery

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in assassinated

to put to death deliberately an elaborate setup to rub out rival mobsters

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in eradicated

to destroy all traces of a promise to rub out the city's drug trade

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 rubbed out This treacherous gang has phenomenally rubbed out many signatures of independence in a very short time. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 14 June 2026 But an Irish knock-on rubbed out a try for Jack Conan, and the second chance was turned over by Mann. — ABC News, 6 Mar. 2026 No Mob boss, cheerfully decreeing that an inconvenient witness be rubbed out, could be more resolute. — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rubbed out

Verb

Glutathione was offered to firefighters during recent blazes that destroyed hundreds of buildings in and around Spokane, Washington.

— ABC News, ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026
If satellites supporting communications or ISR were damaged or destroyed, a faster and less expensive launch system could theoretically allow replacement spacecraft to be deployed more quickly.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of destroyed

Verb

Congress named the performing arts center as a living memorial to Kennedy in 1964, the year after he was assassinated.

— ABC News, ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026
The congregation was the organizing place for the sanitation workers’ strike that brought King to town in March 1968, weeks before he was assassinated there.

— Jason Wollschleger, The Conversation, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of assassinated

Verb

In 1979, the United States became the first country to declare polio eradicated following years of mass vaccinations; in subsequent decades, many other countries reported similar results.

— Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2026
Now, there is a constant obsession over energy levels and management that has eradicated the previous ‘flat out’ approach to racing.

— Luke Smith, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of eradicated

Verb

The influx all but ruined Sutter’s extensive land holdings around Sacramento, originally dubbed New Helvetia.

— Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 15 Aug. 2026
Brentford will be hoping promising midfielder Antoni Milambo can contribute after his debut season was ruined by an ACL injury in October.

— Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of ruined

Verb

If the appeals court agrees, Patterson would only be the second woman to receive a full life sentence in Australia, after Katherine Knight, who murdered her de facto husband and cooked parts of his body.

— Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
On August 4, 1892, Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother, Andrew and Abby Borden, were murdered in the family’s home in Fall River, Massachusetts.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of murdered

Verb

The line between a pocket camera and a drone keeps getting blurrier, and HoverAir has just about erased it.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2026
Amid Issues That message is significant because Sanchez’s defensive problems clearly have not erased his value to the Blue Jays.

— Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of erased

Verb

Its status as a historic landmark saved it from being demolished like all its sister theaters, but Santana Row owner Federal Realty controls its fate.

— Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 20 Aug. 2026
Eventually, some buildings were demolished to control the fires.

— Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of demolished

Verb

Florida executed 19 people last year, accounting for 40% of all executions nationwide, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

— Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 22 Aug. 2026
Friday, Trumann police and the Poinsett County sheriff's office executed a search warrant relating to Rebecca Lucille Montgomery, 44, Trumann police said in a social media post.

— Rafael Escalera Montoto, Arkansas Online, 22 Aug. 2026