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

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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

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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

In Bulgaria, authorities found and destroyed a Russian Gerbera-2 drone, which was not carrying explosives, in the waters of the country’s northern Black Sea coast, the Defense Ministry said Friday.

— Derek Gatopoulos, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2026
He was born in 1941 in the village of al-Birwa, which was destroyed by Israeli forces in 1948.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2026

Definition of destroyed

Verb

Its tree- and mausoleum-lined avenues are home to over 25,000 burial sites, including Felipe Carrillo Puerto (a progressive champion of human rights who was assassinated in 1924).

— Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 4 Nov. 2026
The United States and Israel assassinated Iran’s leadership, including the supreme leader and much of his family, yet the regime remains intact.

— S. C. M. Paine, Foreign Affairs, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of assassinated

Verb

His presence in government should be eradicated like a malignant tumor.

— Emily Feng, NPR, 6 Nov. 2026
The islands lost 9% to 20% of the total Key Deer population, but the New World screwworm was declared eradicated there on March 23, 2017, less than a year after it was discovered.

— Eric Michel, The Conversation, 6 Nov. 2026

Definition of eradicated

Verb

Glancing down at my hands, the jungle-green polish from Lima was hopelessly chipped, ruined by river mud and rain.

— Liam Hess, Vogue, 5 Nov. 2026
Filming the kiss scene in public with dozens of bystanders armed with cell phone watching proved a challenge but, luckily, no one ruined the surprise.

— Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of ruined

Verb

Detectives from the start suspected Panetti had been murdered.

— Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 2 Nov. 2026
It was consecrated by James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, young Black and Jewish men murdered together in 1964 for their work to register Black voters.

— Seth Limmer, Chicago Tribune, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of murdered

Verb

Burns joined the twenty-seventh annual New Yorker Festival to discuss his work with Michael Luo, an executive editor at the magazine, and the importance of chronicling history at a time when more and more is being written over and erased.

— The New Yorker, New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2026
Playing its first game since firing coach Mike Norvell after six-plus seasons, Florida State erased a 17-7 second-quarter deficit by putting up two TDs in the final six minutes of the half.

— ABC News, ABC News, 7 Nov. 2026

Definition of erased

Verb

His personal bodyguard dozed in the courtroom’s family and friends section as an assistant scrolled through her phone and his father demolished a Snickers.

— Luke Jones, Vanity Fair, 5 Nov. 2026
Before it was demolished in the early 1800s, his crumbling mansion was said to be haunted by ghosts and strange occurrences.

— ABC News, ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026

Definition of demolished

Verb

No one has been executed in the state since 2006 and California has the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 6 Nov. 2026
In July, Florida executed two prisoners on the same day, the first double execution by a single state in nearly a decade.

— Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 6 Nov. 2026