rub out
"rub-out" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rub out” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To delete or erase or remove (something) by rubbing, especially with a rubber (eraser).
Corpus desk
Index EN-rub-out · rub out · English
rub out · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "R" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rub out |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “rub out” in English
Rare enough to double-check
rub out is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for rub out in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is rub out, spelled R-U-B- -O-U-T.
Definition
- 1To delete or erase or remove (something) by rubbing, especially with a rubber (eraser).
- 2To get by; to live.
- 3To kill, especially to murder.
- 4Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see rub, out.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how rub out appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The teacher wanted to rub out the chalk marks on the blackboard.
The first will understand but little of them, the latter over much; they might perhaps live and rub out in the middle region.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.