wipe v.
1. to attack, whether physically or verbally.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | ‘The Jolly Butcher’ No. 26 Papers of Francis Place (1819) n.p.: At Bedlam he was frighted, / He in Moorfields, beshit his heels / And at Hoxton he was wiped. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Wkly Rake (NY) 18 June n.p.: wants to know If it would not be advisable for L—d A— n to keep his nose clean, unless he wants it wiped . | |
| Broadway Belle (NY) 6 Nov. n.p.: Up comes a feller vith a club, / And vipes me in the jowls’. | |
| Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 117: wipe to strike; ‘he fetcht me a wipe over the knuckles,’ he struck me on the knuckles. East. | |
| , , | | Sl. Dict. |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Aus. Sl. Dict. 96: Wipe, to strike; to flatten. | |
| Aerbut Paerks, of Baernegum 3: ’Ere, yo stop it off or I shall wipe yer one on the snitcher. | |
| ‘Thundermug’ in Texas Stories (1995) 76: An ’then, w-when creepy gits really g-good at wipin’, we’ll all wipe Creepy with our b-belt buckles. | |
| Aus. Lang. | |
| Three-Ha’Pence to the Angel 189: I could a wiped ’im round the jaw. | |
| Cop This Lot 68: Wipes yer without sayin’ anything, an’ then apologises without sayin’ anything. | |
| Lingo 45: The many other terms for fighting give an idea of the importance of this activity in larrikin life. bump, comb down, dish, dong, tob, spike, sort out, stonker, rip into, do, go the knuckle on, weigh into, wipe and quilt. |
2. (Aus.) to give in, to give up.
| Bulletin (Sydney) 6 July 24/2: This was enough for the M.L. lath, who ‘wiped’ just when onlookers thought he was toeing the mark for the fifth round. |
3. (also wipe up) to destroy, to defeat.
| [ | | Bulletin (Sydney) 29 Oct. 21: Chunder Loo / Of Akim Foo, / Does his share / Of trench-work too. / Down behind the / Sand-bags, he / Waits till some / Rash enemy / Rises, full of / Warlike hate. / ‘Cobra’ wipes him / Off the slate]. |
| Plastic Age 98: One group that was going ‘to wipe up that goddamned English course to-night.’. | |
 | Tiger of the Legion 220: [A] reconnoitring party that went out the following day [...] was attacked and completely wiped up! | |
| ‘Strawberry Ice Cream Soda’ in Sailor off the Bremen (1939) 183: The farmer pushed his son outside the door. ‘Go fight him,’ he ordered. ‘We can settle it in the woods,’ Lawrence said. ‘Wipe him up, Larry!’ Eddie called . | |
| Jim Brady 44: You’d ’ve wiped him only he’d been learnt to fight. | |
| Cop This Lot 154: Give yer the drum, Mister Risky [...] Come to Aussie an’ start spoutin’ Commo bull an’ the mob’ll wipe yer. | |
| No Beast So Fierce 8: I’ll wipe that chimp like a chump. | |
| West in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 100: They’ll sus us out before we’re even near and wipe us off the streets. | |
| Guardian G2 2 July 18: You didn’t know that the magnets in a hi-fi speaker could wipe a video tape? |
4. (Aus./N.Z.) to refuse to grant a loan or any other form of gift, e.g. food for a beggar; to render bankrupt.
| (con. 1930s) ‘Keep Moving’ 6: ‘We’ll get a hand-out from the pub if you see the missus,’ said Jocka knowledgeably. ‘The boss’ll wipe you.’. |
5. (Aus./N.Z.) to repudiate, to forget, to dismiss from one’s mind.
| We Were the Rats 169: I’m diced, Mick [...] or scrubbed or wiped, if you prefer ’em. | |
| Joyful Condemned 36: As for that one with the kid [...] soon’s they [i.e. women] get a kid you can wipe ’em. | |
| Big Smoke 206: You’re wiped. You can roll a drunk — you’re good on that — but you haven’t the guts to do this lousy favour for me. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Hangover 124: If it came to that one of his reasons for wiping university was a senior lecturer who had failed to avoid the same gross error. | |
| Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 232: wipe To reject someone. ANZ from mid C20. |
6. (also wipe out) to murder.
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 253: wipe [...] wipe out To kill; to murder. | |
| Syndicate (1998) 53: You wipe me and you’ll be wiping the chance of a lifetime. | |
| Last Toke 156: Man tol’ y’all what you asked fo’ [...] Give y’all ever’thing ’cept when honey-gal wiped herself. | |
| Brown’s Requiem 247: I want to wipe you off the face of the earth. |
7. (US) to throw.
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | Totally True Diaries of an Eighties Roller Queen 🌐 16 June We wiped rocks from the top of the train trestle near Kerrie’s. |
In phrases
1. to flatter, to pacify.
| Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn). | |
| Sl. Dict. |
2. (Aus.) in gambling, to win and take another person’s money.
| Sheepmates 172: He’s a dirty ‘come-on’ for that speelerin’ Fritz [...] I fell for it, and Fritz wipes me down for two quid. |
to take a drink, esp. to offer or to accept another drink.
| , , | | Sl. Dict. |
| Aus. Sl. Dict. 96: Wipe, [...] to give or take a drink as,‘wiping one’s eye’. |
to hit; usu. in phr. wipe one round the face/mouth/head.
| Street in Suburbia 121: Garn! I’ll woipe yer rarnd the marth, talk ter me... |
(US) to defeat comprehensively.
| Hot to Trot 41: I’ll study tactics. I’ll learn a drop shot. I’m going to wipe your ass off the court. | |
| Grease 166: We’ll wipe their asses on the sidewalk tonight. |
1. to get the better of, to defeat.
| Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 247: ‘to wipe a person’s eye,’ to shoot game which he has missed ? Sporting term. | |
| Sportsman 15 Sept. 2/1: Notes on News [...] In many things the French can ‘wipe our eye’. | |
| Sl. Dict. | |
| Spectator 18 Mar. 385: Never so well-pleased as when he is wiping the eye of the professional burglar . | |
| Gem 6 Apr. 6: Wiped your eye that time, old man! | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | A Life (1981) Act II: No, own up to it, I wiped your eye. |
2. to discomfit, to ‘give someone a black eye’.
| Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1977) 143: I bet that’s wiped old Pritchard’s eye. | |
| Wide Boys Never Work (1938) 202: I’m going to wipe the eyes of that Franks crowd. | |
| Love in Cold Climate 60: At teatime the village policeman reappeared [...], having wiped the eye of all the grand detectives who had come from London in their shiny cars. | |
| All Looks Yellow to the Jaundiced Eye 29: Isn’t he the right villain [...] He wiped your eye about proper. Doing a steady line on the Q.T. and not letting on to a sinner. |
(UK Und.) of the police, to pick up or arrest someone.
| Cockney Cavalcade 35: Another officer, jumped out of a car and ‘wiped him up.’. | |
| Down Donkey Row 25: They wiped up Danny Burns, who’s got that pitch near Stepney station. |
to disappoint, to render a formerly cheerful person unhappy; the converse is wipe the/that scowl...
| [ | | Brandon Union (VT) 4 Nov. 1/6: ‘Drop that smile sir! Wipe it off!’]. |
| Canadian Mag. 51 178: Will another tale of poor business and ruin wipe the smile off your life? | |
| Engineers & Engineering 35 236: No matter how we feel — no matter how hard things have gone — the Germans have never been able to wipe that smile off our faces. | |
| Through the Wheat 51: Wipe that smile off your face, you men back there. | |
| Time 24 June 28/1: Wipe dat smile offen his face! | |
| Winged Victory I ii: Wipe that smile off your face! Straighten up! | |
| (con. 1940s) Do Not Go Gentle (1962) 166: Wipe that look offa yer face. | |
| (con. WWII) Marines! 111: Wipe ’at smile off yer face! | |
| At Night All Cats Are Grey 250: Hump you, I’ll bloody soon wipe that look off your dial. | |
| Burn 118: Joke, is it? I’ll wipe the smile off your face. | |
| Twits (1982) 61: I’ll wipe that silly laugh off your beaks! | |
| Cat’s Eye (1989) 171: ‘Wipe that smirk off your face,’ says Cordelia. | |
| (con. 1920s) Legs 217: I’ll wipe the grin off their mugs when we get a little closer. |
In exclamations
(Aus.) an excl. used to upbraid one who is presumed to be lying.
| Bulletin (Sydney) 16 June 10/2: ‘Wipe your eye!’ ‘Blanky lie!’ Hear the chairman – such a sigh! / Such a size! ‘Gentlemen! —’ ‘He’s just like a clucking hen!’. |