Etymology From Middle English wipen, from Old English wīpian (“to wipe, rub, cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *wīpōn (“to wipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“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”), Sanskrit वेपते (vépate, “to tremble”). More at swivel, swift.
To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.)
Melissa wiped her glasses with her shirt.
I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand.
2 more examples
Tom started to wipe his eyes.
So they passed through the Palace Gates and were led into a big room with a green carpet and lovely green furniture set with emeralds. The soldier made them all wipe their feet upon a green mat before entering this room, and when they were seated he said politely[…]1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:
2
To smear (a substance) with this kind of motion.
You've wiped grease all over your shirt.
3
To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; usually followed by away, off, or out.
Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon.1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
So the plot is that he wipes half the population?2019 April 25, Amby Vaingankar, Ambycomics (comic):
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Ambitransitive To clean (the anus, buttocks and/or genitals) after defecation or urination.
I had nothing to wipe my bum with.
Even if you wipe very carefully, you still have to wash your hands afterward.
Business, Construction, Manufacturing, 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.
7
Figuratively To remove an expression from one's face.
You should wipe that smirk off your face before the boss comes in.
Please wipe that look out of your eyes, it's bribing me to doubt myself.2008, Adele, First Love:
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To deperm (a ship).
9
Media To perform a transition in which one scene or slide is replaced with another over time along a horizontal axis, as if one scene or slide is a layer being slid off the other.
Steve-O tells the camera, “Don’t worry; the next skit’s gonna be amazing”; he then pretends to grab the side of the screen, which “wipes” to the next shot.2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 85:
Obsolete To cheat; to defraud; to trick; usually followed by out.
The English, which they thinke lye still in wayte to wipe them out of theyr landes.1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:
If they by coveyne [covin] or gile be wiped beside their goods.1551, Thomas More, “(please specify the Internet Archive page)”, in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and Pleasaunt Worke of the Best State of a Publyque Weale, and of the Newe Yle Called Utopia: […], London: […] [Steven Mierdman for] Abraham Vele, […], →OCLC:
wipe
noun
Etymology From Middle English wipen, from Old English wīpian (“to wipe, rub, cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *wīpōn (“to wipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“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”), Sanskrit वेपते (vépate, “to tremble”). More at swivel, swift.
1
The act of wiping something.
multiple wipes of a computer's hard disk
2
A soft piece of cloth or cloth-like material used for wiping.
When on a plane or train, don't take anything into the bathroom except baby, a changing pad, a diaper, a travel packet of wipes, and a bottle of hand sanitizer. Always use a wipe on the area before you put your baby down.2009, Mary Ann Zoellner, Alicia Ybarbo, Today's Moms: Essentials for Surviving Baby's First Year, page 58:
"Now, my kiveys, shy up your castors, tie your bird's-eye wipes to the stakes, and go to work."1883, London Society, volume 43, page 101:
All fighting coves you too must know, / Ben Caunt as well as Bendigo, / And to each mill be sure to go, / […] And you must sport a blue billy, / Or a yellow wipe […]1859, Ducange Anglicus, The Vulgar Tongue, page 54:
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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.
I could not help giving Metcalfe a wipe for his lamentations, observing I should have thought he had enough to attend to at home.1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 273
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UK, Obsolete, Slang A blow or swipe; the act of striking somebody or something.
He rode close up to a French officer, and so much in advance of his men that the Frenchman thought he was going to surrender, and dropped his sword, when Penrice gave him a wipe over his head.1894, William Tomkinson, James Tomkinson, The Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns 1809-1815, page 48: