RUBBING OUT Synonyms: 210 Similar and Opposite Words

rubbing out

verb

present participle of rub out

as in destroying

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 murdering

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in eradicating

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of rubbing out Also on the trail is a gangster named Clyde (John Magaro), who’s been sent to redo the job of rubbing out the mysteriously undead Ida. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rubbing out

Verb

The fire ripped through hillside neighborhoods, destroying mansions with spectacular ocean views.

— ABC News, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2026
At that tipping point, the only solution is for oil prices to surge, destroying enough demand for oil that the market can return to equilibrium.

— David Goldman, CNN Money, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of destroying

Verb

In 1893, Sunday school teacher Lizzie Borden was tried for allegedly murdering her father and stepmother with an axe inside the family home.

— Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 4 Aug. 2026
In a newer piece of casting, Sarah Paulson, who’s been filming season 13 of American Horror Story, will appear as Aileen Wuornos, a serial killer who was convicted of murdering seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990.

— Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of murdering

Verb

This is a sector that’s helped solve civilizational challenges like eradicating smallpox and lifting more than a billion people out of extreme poverty.

— Max Simkoff, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2026
This new war on poverty seems intent on increasing it, not eradicating it.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of eradicating

Verb

Utah prosecutors are turning up the heat on Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, arguing that the evidence against him easily meets the standard required to send the case to trial.

— Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026
Ferrell instead starred as the villainous mogul Jacobim Mugatu, who attempts to brainwash Derek into assassinating the prime minister of Malaysia.

— Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 27 July 2026

Definition of assassinating

Verb

Reading scores of New York City public school students plummeted this past school year, erasing improvements in the subject recorded a year before, sparking calls from the teachers’ union for a change in approach.

— Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2026
The record-setting Warriors were only a few months removed from erasing a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate Durant’s Thunder in the Western Conference finals.

— Devon Henderson, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2026

Definition of erasing

Verb

With each passing episode of its second season, Sugar has been leading its title character to the same mind-and-spirit-shattering dilemma.

— Andy Andersen, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2026
Water levels in Budapest sunk to 4 inches Monday, shattering the previous record low of 13 inches set in 2018, according to the Associated Press.

— Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 5 Aug. 2026