wipe out

verb

"wipe-out" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“wipe 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
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To destroy (especially, a large number or complete set of people or things); to obliterate.

Corpus desk

Index EN-wipe-out · wipe out · English

wipe out · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "W" 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.

Key facts for wipe out
PropertyValue
Headwordwipe out
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “wipe out” in English

wipe outranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

wipe out is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for wipe out in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is wipe out, spelled W-I-P-E- -O-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    To destroy (especially, a large number or complete set of people or things); to obliterate.
  2. 2
    To physically erase (writing, computer data, etc.).
  3. 3
    To do away with; to cause to disappear.
  4. 4
    To exhaust (someone); to tire (them) out.
  5. 5
    To bankrupt (a person or company); to empty (a bank account); to erase (a bank balance).
  6. 6
    To crash; to fall over or fall off (especially in board sports such as surfing, skateboarding, etc.).
  7. 7
    To knock (a surfer) off their board.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how wipe out appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. a tornado that nearly wiped out an entire town
  2. Yasser Arafat (Katz): You do not go far enough General Amin. We must rip their entrails out and drag them from here to Damascus until they include us in the peace process. Muammar Gaddafi (LuJane): No! Nonsense! This solution is not bold enough for Libya. I say wipe out Washington and New York.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "wipe out"?
"wipe out" is spelled W-I-P-E- -O-U-T.
What does "wipe out" mean?
As a verb, "wipe out" means: To destroy (especially, a large number or complete set of people or things); to obliterate.
What language does "wipe out" come from?
"wipe out" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list