# wipe

> English word · Verb · IPA /waɪp/ · frequency rank #7,086

## Definitions
1. To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.)
2. To smear (a substance) with this kind of motion.
3. To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; usually followed by away, off, or out.
4. To clean (the anus, buttocks and/or genitals) after defecation or urination.
5. To erase.
6. To make (a joint, as between pieces of lead pipe), by surrounding the junction with a mass of solder, applied in a plastic condition by means of a rag with which the solder is shaped by rubbing.
7. To remove an expression from one's face.
8. To deperm (a ship).
9. To perform a transition in which one scene or slide is replaced with another over time along a horizontal axis, as if one scene or slide is a layer being slid off the other.
10. To hit or strike.
11. To cheat; to defraud; to trick; usually followed by out.

## Etymology
From Middle English wipen, from Old English wīpian (“to wipe, rub, cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *wīpōn (“to wipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to twist, wind around”). Cognate with German wippen (“to bob”), Swedish veva (“to turn, wind, crank”), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍀𐌰𐌽 (weipan, “to wreathe, crown”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”), Sanskrit वेपते (vépate, “to tremble”). More at swivel, swift.

## Easily confused with
- **WWE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wwe)
- **wit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wit)
- **woe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-woe)
- **wis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wis)
- **wiz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wiz)
- **wop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wop)
- **wye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wye)
- **WPA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wpa)
- **with** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-with)
- **wish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wish)
- **wise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wise)
- **wire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wire)
- **wore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wore)
- **woke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-woke)
- **wits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wits)
- **Witt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-witt)
- **wisp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wisp)
- **wove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wove)
- **write** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-write)
- **wives** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wipe-vs-wives)

## Common misspellings (5)
`iwpe`, `wiep`, `wippe`, `wpie`, `wwipe`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wipe