Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To subject to light rubbing or friction, as with a cloth or paper, in order to clean or dry.
  • transitive verb To clean or dry by rubbing.
  • transitive verb To rub, move, or pass (a cloth, for example) over a surface.
  • transitive verb To remove by or as if by rubbing.
  • transitive verb To blot out completely, as from the memory.
  • transitive verb To spread or apply by or as if by wiping.
  • transitive verb To form (a joint) in plumbing by spreading solder with a piece of cloth or leather.
  • noun The act or an instance of wiping.
  • noun Something, such as a towel or tissue, used for wiping.
  • noun A cam that activates another part; a wiper.
  • noun A blow or swipe.
  • noun Informal A jeer; a gibe.
  • noun A transition from one scene in a film or movie to another, effected by means of a line passing across the screen.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as weep.
  • noun The act or process of wiping clean or dry; a sweeping stroke of one thing over another; a rub; a brush.
  • noun A quick or hard stroke; a blow, literally or figuratively; a cut: now regarded as slang.
  • noun The mark of a blow or wound; a scar; a brand.
  • noun Something used in wiping; specifically, a handkerchief.
  • noun plural A fence of brushwood.
  • noun Same as wiper, 3.
  • To rub or stroke with or on something, especially a soft cloth, for cleaning; clean or dry by gently rubbing, as with a towel.
  • To remove by or as by gently rubbing with or on something, especially a cloth; hence, with away, off, or out, to remove, efface, or obliterate.
  • Figuratively, to cleanse, as from evil practices or abuses; clear, as of disadvantage or superfluity.
  • To cheat; defraud; trick.
  • To stroke or strike gently; tap.
  • To beat; chastise.
  • In plumbing, to apply (solder) without the use of a soldering-iron, by allowing the solder to cool into a semi-fluid condition, and then applying it by wiping it over the part to be soldered by the use of a pad of leather or cloth. See wiping, 2.
  • To make strokes with a rubbing or sweeping motion.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To rub with something soft for cleaning; to clean or dry by rubbing.
  • transitive verb To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; -- usually followed by away, off or out. Also used figuratively.
  • transitive verb obsolete To cheat; to defraud; to trick; -- usually followed by out.
  • transitive verb (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.
  • transitive verb [Old Slang] to cheat.
  • noun (Zoöl.), Prov. Eng. The lapwing.
  • noun Act of rubbing, esp. in order to clean.
  • noun Low A blow; a stroke; a hit; a swipe.
  • noun A gibe; a jeer; a severe sarcasm.
  • noun Thieves' Cant or Slang A handkerchief.
  • noun obsolete Stain; brand.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (cf. rub)
  • verb transitive, computing To erase.
  • noun A soft piece of cloth or cloth-like material used for wiping.
  • 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.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English wipen, from Old English wīpian; see weip- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English wipen, from Old English wīpian ("to wipe, rub, cleanse"), from Proto-Germanic *wīpōnan (“to wipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weib-, *(s)weip- (“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"). More at swivel, swift.

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Examples

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  • Something you should never forget to do.

    July 30, 2008

  • Nigerian English - slap across the face.

    September 17, 2008