“Wiping” is a form of
wipe
/waɪp/ verb, noun
Forms wipes wiping wiped
- verb (transitive) To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.) “Melissa wiped her glasses with her shirt.”
- verb (transitive) To smear (a substance) with this kind of motion. “You've wiped grease all over your shirt.”
- verb (transitive) To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; usually followed by away, off, or out.
- verb (ambitransitive) To clean (the anus, buttocks and/or genitals) after defecation or urination. “I had nothing to wipe my bum with.”
- verb (transitive, computing) To erase. “I accidentally wiped my hard drive.”
- verb (transitive, plumbing) 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.
- verb (figurative) To remove an expression from one's face. “You should wipe that smirk off your face before the boss comes in.”
- verb (transitive) To deperm (a ship).
- noun The act of wiping something. “multiple wipes of a computer's hard disk”
- noun A soft piece of cloth or cloth-like material used for wiping.
- noun (UK, slang, obsolete) A handkerchief.
- noun A kind of film transition where one shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the frame to another or with a special shape.
- noun (obsolete) A sarcastic remark; a reproof, a jibe.
- noun (UK, slang, obsolete) A blow or swipe; the act of striking somebody or something.
- noun A lapwing, especially a northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).
- verb (intransitive, roleplaying games, video games) To have all members of a party die in a single campaign, event, or battle; to be wiped out. “If you try to fight that boss underprepared, you're definitely gonna wipe.”
- noun (roleplaying games, video games) An instance of all members of a party dying in a single campaign, event, or battle; a wipeout.
Synonyms
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.
Compare Swedish vipa, Danish vibe (“lapwing”).
From wipe out (verb) and wipeout (noun) by shortening.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The lapwing. [Prov. Eng.]
- verb To rub with something soft for cleaning; to clean or dry by rubbing; as, to wipe the hands or face with a towel.
- verb To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; --usually followed by away, off or out. Also used figuratively. "To wipe out our ingratitude." Shak.
- noun Act of rubbing, esp. in order to clean.
Etymology [Cf. Sw. vipa, Dan. vibe, the lapwing.]
Etymology [OE. vipen, AS. wipian; cf. LG. wiep a wisp of straw, Sw. vepa to wrap up, to cuddle one's self up, vepa a blanket; perhaps akin to E. whip.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wipe”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details