as in excluding
to prevent the participation, consideration, or inclusion of
another loss would rule them out of the tournament
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Recent Examples of ruling out
The poll comes out as White House officials have repeatedly avoided ruling out a ground invasion.
—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 21 Mar. 2026
The Utah man accused of killing Charlie Kirk was back in court Friday as a state judge denied some efforts by his attorneys to restrict public access to court documents while not ruling out the possibility of closing portions of an upcoming hearing.
—CBS News, 14 Mar. 2026
Trump is not ruling out the possibility of military strikes on Iran.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 27 Feb. 2026
Smith for some time has dangled the prospect of running as an unconventional candidate against a field of career politicians, but there’s a big gap between not ruling out a run and actually doing it.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2026
Investigators are not ruling out sabotage carried out by anarchists, citing similarities to the sabotage that targeted the French network during the 2024 Paris Olympics, when France’s high-speed train lines were targeted by multiple malicious acts including arson.
—Antonia Mortensen, CNN Money, 7 Feb. 2026
Once there, Glick quickly gathered information that contradicted claims the authorities had made in ruling out foul play.
—Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 21 Mar. 2026
The Utah man accused of killing Charlie Kirk was back in court Friday as a state judge denied some efforts by his attorneys to restrict public access to court documents while not ruling out the possibility of closing portions of an upcoming hearing.
—CBS News, 14 Mar. 2026
Trump is not ruling out the possibility of military strikes on Iran.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 27 Feb. 2026
Smith for some time has dangled the prospect of running as an unconventional candidate against a field of career politicians, but there’s a big gap between not ruling out a run and actually doing it.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2026
Investigators are not ruling out sabotage carried out by anarchists, citing similarities to the sabotage that targeted the French network during the 2024 Paris Olympics, when France’s high-speed train lines were targeted by multiple malicious acts including arson.
—Antonia Mortensen, CNN Money, 7 Feb. 2026
Once there, Glick quickly gathered information that contradicted claims the authorities had made in ruling out foul play.
—Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruling out
Verb
-
Travel disruptions deepened Tuesday as senators raced to salvage a proposal to end the Homeland Security shutdown by funding much of the department, including airport workers going without pay, but excluding immigration operations that have been core to the dispute.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Senators are discussing a proposal to end the Homeland Security budget stalemate by funding much of the department, including the Transportation Security Administration airport workers going without pay, but excluding ICE's enforcement and removal operations that have been core to the dispute.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The country’s then-supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, even went as far as issuing a fatwa, or legal ruling under Islamic law, banning them.—
Sophie Tanno,
CNN Money,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Beginning in 2025, parents planned their exits from states banning health care for their children.—
Tracy Baim,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Haupt gave his team a chance to come back by shutting out the Vikings over his four innings of work.—
Lou Ponsi,
Oc Register,
19 Mar. 2026
-
But Australia has, thus far, not allowed a run in the round robin runs allowed tiebreaker, by virtue of shutting out Chinese Taipei to start the tournament.—
Maria Torres,
New York Times,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The incident demonstrates that freezing out a critical voice through administrative pressure constitutes an authoritarian suppression of dissent, with the blocking itself becoming more newsworthy and damaging to the administration than the governor’s original remarks would have been.—
George Skelton,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Minnesota officials said on Thursday that the FBI is taking the lead on the investigation and freezing out state investigators.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
He's talked about eliminating the missile threat.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Framed as deregulation, the bill sets a statewide minimum lot size of 1,500 square feet while also shrinking setbacks and eliminating dimensional requirements that could stand in the way of building multiple compact homes on at least four acres of land.—
Mark Dee
March 28,
Idaho Statesman,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Alongside barring revocation, Alonso also ruled the government couldn’t take any steps to remove Bojovic from his parent’s asylum application.—
Tess Kenny,
Chicago Tribune,
23 Mar. 2026
-
The bill in the state legislature aims to do this, barring Connecticut communities from requiring more than 5,000 square feet — about a tenth of an acre — for a home building lot with available public water and sewer service.—
Kenneth R. Gosselin,
Hartford Courant,
22 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ruling out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruling%20out. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026.
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