To wipe something means to clean it with a cloth or other material, usually to remove dirt, water, or another substance that's covering it.
When we use the word 'wipe', it often happens in everyday situations. For example, you might be cleaning up after eating and grab some paper towels to wipe your hands before washing them under running water. You can also wipe a table or countertop with a cloth after someone spills something on it. Sometimes, people will even tell their kids to wipe down the toys after playtime so they don't get all dirty.
How common is "wipe"?
Word wipe is considered uncommon in modern English. It appears most frequently in fiction texts and less often in other writings.
Definitions
verb
(transitive) To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. (Compare rub.)
Example: Melissa wiped her glasses with her shirt.
(transitive) To smear (a substance) with this kind of motion.
Example: You've wiped grease all over your shirt.
(transitive) To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; usually followed by away, off, or out.
(ambitransitive) To clean (the anus and buttocks) after defecation.
Example: I had nothing to wipe my bum with.
(transitive, computing) To erase.
Example: I accidentally wiped my hard drive.
(transitive, 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.
(figurative) To remove an expression from one's face.
Example: You should wipe that smirk off your face before the boss comes in.
(transitive) To deperm (a ship).
(video editing) 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.
(UK, slang, obsolete) To hit or strike.
(obsolete) To cheat; to defraud; to trick; usually followed by out.