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
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
Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruling out
Verb
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That’s the highest annual rate for PPI excluding energy, food and trade services in eight months.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
14 Jan. 2026
-
Split Screen acquired the film’s world rights, excluding Brazil.—
Rafa Sales Ross,
Variety,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In addition to West Virginia, six other states have targeted food dyes with new laws or executive orders, requiring warning labels on food with certain dyes or banning the sale of such products in schools.—
Alan Greenblatt,
CBS News,
12 Jan. 2026
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Last year, the court upheld a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors — a ruling with repercussions across the country.—
Becca Savransky,
Idaho Statesman,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Reasonable people can disagree about where to draw lines, but avoiding the conversation altogether by shutting out diverse views does not serve us.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
4 Nov. 2025
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But running back Rico Dowdle is cooking — 551 yards through seven games — and the Panthers’ defense has been truly dominant at times, shutting out the Falcons in Week 3 and shutting down the Jets (admittedly, not hard to do) last Sunday.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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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
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It was last renovated in the 1990s by Andrés Balazs, who gave it a more contemporary feel without eliminating old-school charms.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
12 Jan. 2026
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By eliminating heavy abrasion, jeans are less lightly to breakdown prematurely.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In 2020, Idaho was the first state in the country to approve the measure categorically barring transgender women and girls from women’s and girls sports.—
Becca Savransky,
Idaho Statesman,
14 Jan. 2026
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The governor signed a bill in 2024 barring online platforms from knowingly providing addictive feeds to minors without their parents’ consent, and which also bans platforms from sending notifications to minors during school and late-night hours.—
Linh Tat,
Daily News,
13 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ruling out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruling%20out. Accessed 19 Jan. 2026.
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