WIPE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wipe mean? 

• WIPE (noun)
  The noun WIPE has 1 sense:

1. the act of rubbing or wiping

  Familiarity information: WIPE used as a noun is very rare.

• WIPE (verb)
  The verb WIPE has 1 sense:

1. rub with a circular motion

  Familiarity information: WIPE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WIPE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of rubbing or wiping

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

rub; wipe

Context example:

he gave the hood a quick rub

Hypernyms ("wipe" is a kind of...):

contact; physical contact (the act of touching physically)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wipe"):

scuff (the act of scuffing (scraping or dragging the feet))

Derivation:

wipe (rub with a circular motion)

• WIPE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they wipe    ... he / she / it wipes   
Past simple: wiped   
Past participle: wiped   
-ing form: wiping   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Rub with a circular motion

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

pass over; wipe

Context example:

He passed his hands over the soft cloth

Hypernyms (to "wipe" is one way to...):

rub (move over something with pressure)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wipe"):

sponge (wipe with a sponge, so as to clean or moisten)

squeegee (wipe with a squeegee)

broom; sweep (sweep with a broom or as if with a broom)

towel (wipe with a towel)

whisk; whisk off (brush or wipe off lightly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Also:

wipe away; wipe off (remove by wiping)

wipe off (remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing)

wipe out (use up (resources or materials))

Derivation:

wipe (the act of rubbing or wiping)

wiper (a mechanical device that cleans the windshield)

wiper (contact consisting of a conducting arm that rotates over a series of fixed contacts and comes to rest on an outlet)

wiper (a worker who wipes)

 Context examples 

She wiped her eyes with her apron: the two girls, grave before, looked sad now.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I should like to cry a little because Oz is gone, if you will kindly wipe away my tears, so that I shall not rust.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

As he couldn't, Jo wiped his eyes for him, and said, laughing, as she took away a bundle or two...

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“Good lack!” cried Sir Nigel, and “Good lack!” cried his lady, while John stood laughing and wiping the caked dirt from his fingers.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I will soon wipe her from your mind.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“It’s my dog,” Hal replied, wiping the blood from his mouth as he came back.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The men were wiping their foreheads, and were flushed in the face, as if with violent exercise.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

She stumbled through it, pausing now and again to wipe her eyes, and when she had finished, said: An' does it mean that you come by the money honestly?

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

McFarlane wiped his damp brow, and then continued his narrative: I was shown by this woman into a sitting-room, where a frugal supper was laid out.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Sometimes." continued Lucy, after wiping her eyes, "I think whether it would not be better for us both to break off the matter entirely."

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)