wipe, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

wipe v.

[SE wipe out]

1. to attack, whether physically or verbally.

c.1800		‘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.
1842		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 .
1858		Broadway Belle (NY) 6 Nov. n.p.: Up comes a feller vith a club, / And vipes me in the jowls’.
1859		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 117: wipe to strike; ‘he fetcht me a wipe over the knuckles,’ he struck me on the knuckles. East.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 96: Wipe, to strike; to flatten.
1916		G. Squiers Aerbut Paerks, of Baernegum 3: ’Ere, yo stop it off or I shall wipe yer one on the snitcher.
1935		N. Algren ‘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.
1945		Baker Aus. Lang.
1950		C. Harris Three-Ha’Pence to the Angel 189: I could a wiped ’im round the jaw.
1960		‘Nino Culotta’ Cop This Lot 68: Wipes yer without sayin’ anything, an’ then apologises without sayin’ anything.
1999		G. Seal 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.

1901

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.

[1914		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].
1924		P. Marks Plastic Age 98: One group that was going ‘to wipe up that goddamned English course to-night.’.
1936		T. ‘O’Reilly Tiger of the Legion 220: [A] reconnoitring party that went out the following day [...] was attacked and completely wiped up!
1938		I. Shaw ‘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 .
1954		J.E. Macdonnell Jim Brady 44: You’d ’ve wiped him only he’d been learnt to fight.
1960		‘Nino Culotta’ Cop This Lot 154: Give yer the drum, Mister Risky [...] Come to Aussie an’ start spoutin’ Commo bull an’ the mob’ll wipe yer.
1973		E. Bunker No Beast So Fierce 8: I’ll wipe that chimp like a chump.
1985		S. Berkoff West in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 100: They’ll sus us out before we’re even near and wipe us off the streets.
1999		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.

1973

(con. 1930s) F. Huelin ‘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.

1944		L. Glassop We Were the Rats 169: I’m diced, Mick [...] or scrubbed or wiped, if you prefer ’em.
1953		K. Tennant Joyful Condemned 36: As for that one with the kid [...] soon’s they [i.e. women] get a kid you can wipe ’em.
1959		D. Niland 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.
1967		F. Sargeson 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.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 232: wipe To reject someone. ANZ from mid C20.

6. (also wipe out) to murder.

1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 253: wipe [...] wipe out To kill; to murder.
1960		C. Cooper Jr Syndicate (1998) 53: You wipe me and you’ll be wiping the chance of a lifetime.
1977		A. Brooke Last Toke 156: Man tol’ y’all what you asked fo’ [...] Give y’all ever’thing ’cept when honey-gal wiped herself.
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 247: I want to wipe you off the face of the earth.

7. (US) to throw.

1984

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

wipe down (v.)

1. to flatter, to pacify.

1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn).
1873		Sl. Dict.

2. (Aus.) in gambling, to win and take another person’s money.

1931

‘William Hatfield’ Sheepmates 172: He’s a dirty ‘come-on’ for that speelerin’ Fritz [...] I fell for it, and Fritz wipes me down for two quid.

wipe one’s eye (v.)

to take a drink, esp. to offer or to accept another drink.

1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 96: Wipe, [...] to give or take a drink as,‘wiping one’s eye’.

wipe round (v.)

to hit; usu. in phr. wipe one round the face/mouth/head.

1895

E. Pugh Street in Suburbia 121: Garn! I’ll woipe yer rarnd the marth, talk ter me...

wipe someone’s ass (v.) (also wipe the arse off (someone))

(US) to defeat comprehensively.

c.1943		S.J. Baker Aus. Vulgarisms [t/s] 14: wipe the arse off (someone): To trounce, beat soundly.
1974		J. Lahr Hot to Trot 41: I’ll study tactics. I’ll learn a drop shot. I’m going to wipe your ass off the court.
1978		R. De Christoforo Grease 166: We’ll wipe their asses on the sidewalk tonight.

wipe someone’s eye (v.) [sporting use wipe one’s eye, to shoot someone else’s bird]

1. to get the better of, to defeat.

1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 247: ‘to wipe a person’s eye,’ to shoot game which he has missed ? Sporting term.
1866		Sportsman 15 Sept. 2/1: Notes on News [...] In many things the French can ‘wipe our eye’.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1899		Spectator 18 Mar. 385: Never so well-pleased as when he is wiping the eye of the professional burglar .
1907		Gem 6 Apr. 6: Wiped your eye that time, old man!
1979		H. Leonard A Life (1981) Act II: No, own up to it, I wiped your eye.

2. to discomfit, to ‘give someone a black eye’.

1921		D.L. Sayers Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1977) 143: I bet that’s wiped old Pritchard’s eye.
1937		R. Westerby Wide Boys Never Work (1938) 202: I’m going to wipe the eyes of that Franks crowd.
1949		N. Mitford 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.
1969		P. Boyle 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.

wipe someone up (v.)

(UK Und.) of the police, to pick up or arrest someone.

1935		G. Ingram Cockney Cavalcade 35: Another officer, jumped out of a car and ‘wiped him up.’.
1938		L. Ortzen Down Donkey Row 25: They wiped up Danny Burns, who’s got that pitch near Stepney station.

wipe the smile off someone’s face (v.) (also wipe that smile..., wipe the grin..., ...laugh..., ...look..., ...smirk...)

to disappoint, to render a formerly cheerful person unhappy; the converse is wipe the/that scowl...

[1887		Brandon Union (VT) 4 Nov. 1/6: ‘Drop that smile sir! Wipe it off!’].
1918		Canadian Mag. 51 178: Will another tale of poor business and ruin wipe the smile off your life?
1918		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.
1923		T. Boyd Through the Wheat 51: Wipe that smile off your face, you men back there.
1935		Time 24 June 28/1: Wipe dat smile offen his face!
1943		M. Hart Winged Victory I ii: Wipe that smile off your face! Straighten up!
1960		(con. 1940s) D. MacCuish Do Not Go Gentle (1962) 166: Wipe that look offa yer face.
1960		(con. WWII) R. Leckie Marines! 111: Wipe ’at smile off yer face!
1966		P. Boyle At Night All Cats Are Grey 250: Hump you, I’ll bloody soon wipe that look off your dial.
1974		D. Ireland Burn 118: Joke, is it? I’ll wipe the smile off your face.
1980		R. Dahl Twits (1982) 61: I’ll wipe that silly laugh off your beaks!
1988		M. Atwood Cat’s Eye (1989) 171: ‘Wipe that smirk off your face,’ says Cordelia.
1991		(con. 1920s) O.D. Brooks Legs 217: I’ll wipe the grin off their mugs when we get a little closer.

In exclamations

wipe your eye! [? thus removing the ‘shit’ they are talking]

(Aus.) an excl. used to upbraid one who is presumed to be lying.

1900

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!’.