rub out
To erase something with a rubber, or (in old crime films) to kill someone.
Meanings
To remove a pencil mark, writing, or drawing using an eraser.
"If you make a mistake, just rub it out and start again."
Criminal slang: to kill someone, usually on the orders of a criminal organisation.
"In the film, the mob boss ordered them to rub out the witness before the trial."
To completely destroy or eliminate something abstract.
"Years of war had rubbed out an entire generation's sense of hope."
The erasing sense is everyday British English — 'rub out' with a pencil eraser (called a 'rubber' in British English). The criminal slang sense (to kill) is dated and encountered mainly in older crime fiction and films. American English more commonly uses 'erase' for the physical sense.
Commonly used with
Forms
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