rub out
verb
rubbed out; rubbing out; rubs out
transitive verb
1
: to obliterate by or as if by rubbing
2
: to destroy completely
specifically : kill, murder
somebody rubbed him out … with a twenty-two 
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler rubout
ˈrəb-ˌau̇t 
noun 
Synonyms
- annihilate
- cream
- decimate
- demolish
- desolate
- destroy
- devastate
- do in
- extinguish
- nuke
- pull down
- pulverize
- raze
- ruin
- shatter
- smash
- tear down
- total
- vaporize
- waste
- wrack
- wreck
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
aerial bombs rubbed out the oil refinery an elaborate setup to rub out rival mobsters
Recent Examples on the Web The resort can arrange a local masseuse to rub out all that daring inside the comfort of your cabin. Rina Nehdar, Travel + Leisure, 4 Mar. 2022 The man, Eric Charles Maund, whose family runs Volkswagen and Toyota dealerships in and around Austin, is alleged to have hired the trio to rub out Holly Williams, 33, and William Lanway, 36, in March 2020, police and prosecutors said. NBC News, 13 Dec. 2021 His mission, ostensibly, is to retrieve the sword and rub out Akemi, who’s just turned 21 and unknowingly inherited the Kawa crime family empire. Richard Kuipers, Variety, 30 Aug. 2021 For at-home maintenance, Away (which doesn’t cover superficial markings under warranty), recommends using a Magic Eraser sponge to rub out scuffs and scratches, while Rimowa suggests using isopropyl alcohol as a cleaning and restoring agent. Laura Neilson, WSJ, 18 Mar. 2021 Robby Fabbri put in a hard shift to set up the goal; Nikita Zadorov tried to rub out Fabbri along the boards, but Fabbri refused to be denied space. Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press, 28 Feb. 2021 Exotic has served a year of his more than 20-year sentence for attempting to hire a hitman to rub out Baskin. Ben Feuerherd, Fox News, 21 Jan. 2021 Use a dry erase marker instead of a Sharpie when designing to easily rub out any mistakes or errant marks. Beth Segal, cleveland, 15 Oct. 2020 An extensive torture campaign has been documented by human rights workers, intended to rub out any sense of disloyalty from the military. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 21 Jan. 2020 See More
Rina Nehdar, Travel + Leisure, 4 Mar. 2022 The man, Eric Charles Maund, whose family runs Volkswagen and Toyota dealerships in and around Austin, is alleged to have hired the trio to rub out Holly Williams, 33, and William Lanway, 36, in March 2020, police and prosecutors said. NBC News, 13 Dec. 2021 His mission, ostensibly, is to retrieve the sword and rub out Akemi, who’s just turned 21 and unknowingly inherited the Kawa crime family empire. Richard Kuipers, Variety, 30 Aug. 2021 For at-home maintenance, Away (which doesn’t cover superficial markings under warranty), recommends using a Magic Eraser sponge to rub out scuffs and scratches, while Rimowa suggests using isopropyl alcohol as a cleaning and restoring agent. Laura Neilson, WSJ, 18 Mar. 2021 Robby Fabbri put in a hard shift to set up the goal; Nikita Zadorov tried to rub out Fabbri along the boards, but Fabbri refused to be denied space. Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press, 28 Feb. 2021 Exotic has served a year of his more than 20-year sentence for attempting to hire a hitman to rub out Baskin. Ben Feuerherd, Fox News, 21 Jan. 2021 Use a dry erase marker instead of a Sharpie when designing to easily rub out any mistakes or errant marks. Beth Segal, cleveland, 15 Oct. 2020 An extensive torture campaign has been documented by human rights workers, intended to rub out any sense of disloyalty from the military. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 21 Jan. 2020 See More Word History
First Known Use
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
rubbing out
verb
1
as in destroying
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of aerial bombs rubbed out the oil refinery Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- destroying
- ruining
- shattering
- devastating
- demolishing
- tearing down
- wrecking
- pulling down
- smashing
- doing in
- overcoming
- damaging
- wasting
- eroding
- totaling
- extinguishing
- vaporizing
- pulverizing
- blowing up
- annihilating
- decimating
- wracking
- washing out
- desolating
- razing
- wiping out
- ravaging
- crippling
- marring
- killing
- creaming
- crushing
- breaking
- taking down
- removing
- dismantling
- cutting down
- defeating
- blotting out
- blasting
- nuking
- triumphing (over)
- winning (against)
- prevailing (over)
- killing off
- licking
- totalling
- trimming
- routing
- taking out
- injuring
- sweeping (away)
- subduing
- wearing (away)
- conquering
- mastering
- surmounting
- deteriorating
- spoiling
- impairing
- whipping
- disintegrating
- overbearing
- stamping (out)
- dissolving
- thrashing
- drubbing
- harming
- rooting (out)
- clobbering
- snuffing (out)
- mutilating
- disfiguring
- trouncing
- beating
- besting
- eradicating
- mangling
- overmatching
- scouring
- dynamiting
- undoing
- defacing
- walloping
- mowing (down)
- slaughtering
- gutting
- vitiating
- disassembling
- looting
- sacking
- assassinating
- plundering
- scotching
- executing
- murdering
- havocking
- liquidating
- obliterating
- trampling
- exterminating
- extirpating
- expunging
- vandalizing
- unmaking
- effacing
- slaying
- dispatching
- pillaging
- skunking
- massacring
- despoiling
- zapping
- trashing
- butchering
- dilapidating
- unbuilding
- felling
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- setting up
- building
- constructing
- raising
- creating
- erecting
- bringing about
- repairing
- putting up
- fixing
- rearing
- producing
- forming
- making
- manufacturing
- shaping
- mending
- establishing
- inventing
- assembling
- patching
- organizing
- forging
- framing
- molding
- reconditioning
- protecting
- revamping
- constituting
- fabricating
- saving
- fashioning
- founding
- preserving
- instituting
- doctoring
- conserving
- restoring
- rebuilding
- remodeling
- reconstructing
- fathering
- renovating
2
as in murdering
to put to death deliberately an elaborate setup to rub out rival mobsters Synonyms & Similar Words
- murdering
- assassinating
- taking out
- putting away
- knocking off
- doing in
- bumping off
- slaying
- executing
- killing
- blowing away
- cutting down
- getting
- doing away with
- dispatching
- shooting down
- neutralizing
- carrying off
- shooting
- blotting out
- whacking
- liquidating
- snuffing
- terminating
- offing
- icing
- wiping out
- slaughtering
- destroying
- croaking
- mowing (down)
- claiming
- zapping
- eliminating
- smiting
- felling
- massacring
- eradicating
- butchering
- exterminating
- annihilating
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- raising
- restoring
- reviving
- animating
- resurrecting
- resuscitating
3
as in eradicating
to destroy all traces of a promise to rub out the city's drug trade Synonyms & Similar Words
- eradicating
- erasing
- wiping out
- blotting out
- blacking out
- abolishing
- destroying
- stamping (out)
- sweeping (away)
- rooting (out)
- snuffing (out)
- cleaning (up)
- tearing down
- obliterating
- exterminating
- extirpating
- expunging
- effacing
- shattering
- annihilating
- liquidating
- canceling
- demolishing
- killing off
- cancelling
- blowing up
- killing
- mowing (down)
- dismantling
- ravaging
- devastating
- throwing out
- ruining
- consuming
- discarding
- decimating
- flattening
- wrecking
- wasting
- totaling
- smashing
- razing
- dashing
- finishing
- dissolving
- splintering
- fragmenting
- dynamiting
- pulverizing
- ejecting
- devouring
- blasting
- atomizing
- zapping
- powdering
- expelling
- totalling
- dooming
- ditching
- jettisoning
- terminating
- excising
- cutting
- ousting
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- protecting
- saving
- creating
- preserving
- forming
- building
- manufacturing
- shaping
- constructing
- conserving
- making
- fixing
- framing
- repairing
- forging
- rebuilding
- restoring
- reconstructing
- renewing
- fabricating
- patching
- fashioning
- reconditioning
- revamping
- renovating
- mending
- not a dry eye in the house
- not a lot of
- not a moment too soon
- not a penny less
- not a penny less/more
- not a penny more
- not a pretty sight
- not a problem
- not a sausage
- not a/one bit
- not all there
- not amount to much
- not any good
- not any longer
- not at all
- not bad
- not badly
- not bat an eye
- not bat an eye/eyelash
- not bat an eyelash
- not bat an eyelid
- not before time
- not before time too
- not believe
- basic airman