rubbing out

present participle of rub out
1
as in destroying
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of aerial bombs rubbed out the oil refinery

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
3

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rubbing out
Verb
  • Overdevelopment destroying our communities.
    Deputy News Editor, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Unless this is another ploy by women who are intent on destroying each other.
    Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Johnson, Evans and Pascal – and while certainly thoughtful, the film's strengths are upended by a mood-murdering melancholy.
    Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
  • In the worst killing spree in Germany’s post-war history, a former nurse was jailed in 2019 for life for murdering 85 of his patients.
    CNN Money, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Sixth-generation Texas rancher James Clement III told CNBC the key to eradicating the screwworm threat is years out.
    Lori Ann LaRocco, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Texas only gained 179 yards for the game, eradicating the good offensive vibes from the previous week.
    Seth Emerson, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The Chiefs have seen some of league’s premier running backs — such as Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry and Jahmyr Gibbs — and have met each challenge, preventing those elite players from ruining the defensive game plan.
    Emily Curiel, Kansas City Star, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Clark reiterated his belief that the Dodgers are not ruining baseball.
    Evan Drellich, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus a month ago today, has asked a judge for permission to wear civilian clothes in court and to appear without shackles and cuffs.
    Michael Ruiz , Lee Ross, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Casual killings at point-blank range, vicious motorcycle jackings, tossing someone off a building, assassinating the actual Mark Cuban (playing himself) — this, in the movie, is what the good guys do.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Private equity firms are showing a great interest in buying into the NFL — the biggest and most profitable sports league in the world — and are boosting values by setting a floor on valuations and erasing concerns other limited partners may have had over liquidity, CNBC reported.
    Michael Ozanian, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The user shared another clip in the thread that followed, showing the G1 breaking into a room like a burglar, shattering a glass door.
    Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Nov. 2025
  • But to have somebody that's a main character like that actually get killed was something that was shattering to everybody.
    Sabienna Bowman, PEOPLE, 3 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • The number of homebuyers taking out VA loans also increased in August, rising 3 percent year-over-year nationwide—bucking the trend observed for conventional loans, which declined 9 percent year-over-year in the same month.
    Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Literally sitting on the ground, probably kneeling and just watching the television, taking out the tape, rewinding it, putting it back in and watching it over and over again.
    Jack Irvin, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025
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.

Cite this Entry

“Rubbing out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rubbing%20out. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.

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