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

One crab can eat more than 40 juvenile soft-shell clams in a day, while also destroying seagrass habitats.

— Victoria Malloy, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
And then a seven-hour-long GRB came along—acting like a Death Star whose planet-destroying beam refused to switch off—that defied all explanation.

— Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of destroying

Verb

On Monday, Mackenzie was convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult alongside 28 leaders of his cult.

— Latoya Gayle, PEOPLE, 20 Oct. 2026
The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult linked to more than 400 deaths was convicted Monday of murdering 190 children and one adult after ordering followers to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus.

— Evelyne Musambi, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of murdering

Verb

The Beijing propaganda machine has been busy eradicating the truth about the Tiananmen Square Massacre for nearly forty years.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2026
But somehow, in the midst of all this frat-boy revelry, Ilya is able to outline his vision for the future, one in which AI will have solved numerous human problems, including eradicating not only cancer but also loneliness and unhappiness.

— Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of eradicating

Verb

The song is a cautionary tale about a brothel in New Orleans known for ruining many poor girls.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
As wet electrodes get thicker, the liquid binder migrates unevenly during drying, ruining the battery‘s structure.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of ruining

Verb

Washington hoped that assassinating Khamenei would prompt a mass antigovernment uprising.

— Narges Bajoghli, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2026
Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk, will stand trial after a Utah judge ruled Tuesday that prosecutors presented enough evidence to move forward on all seven charges against him.

— Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of assassinating

Verb

Cincinnati kept pouring it on after erasing the 13-0 deficit.

— ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
In the bottom of the sixth, Sal Frelick led off the inning with a lefty-on-lefty solo homer off Ian Seymour in a nine-pitch at-bat, completely erasing the deficit.

— Ryan Morik OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of erasing

Verb

The district selected a redevelopment proposal this year that would include demolishing the school and building single-family homes.

— Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 20 Oct. 2026
The 18-year-old female elephant got loose from her handler outside her enclosure, then went on the run, demolishing the door of a saloon on North Avenue, smashing in the window of another and walking through the fence around a vacant lot.

— Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026