Wipe Meaning
/waɪp/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.)
verbTo smear (a substance) with this kind of motion.
Sentence Examples
Wipe your face clean.
Wipe the sweat from your brow.
Please wipe your feet on the mat.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
After spilling juice on the table, she used a cloth to ____ it clean.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please remember to ____ the table after you have finished having your dinner in the kitchen this evening today.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"So they passed through the Palace Gates and were led into a big room with a green carpet and lovely green furniture set with emeralds. The soldier made them all wipe their feet upon a green mat before entering this room, and when they were seated he said politely[…]"
— 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:
"Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"So the plot is that he wipes half the population?"
— 2019 April 25, Amby Vaingankar, Ambycomics (comic):
"Please wipe that look out of your eyes, it's bribing me to doubt myself."
— 2008, Adele, First Love:
"Steve-O tells the camera, “Don’t worry; the next skit’s gonna be amazing”; he then pretends to grab the side of the screen, which “wipes” to the next shot."
— 2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 85:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After spilling juice on the table, she used a cloth to ____ it clean.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please remember to ____ the table after you have finished having your dinner in the kitchen this evening today.