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Glite Dictionary
to white out

to white out

1 3.9
To cover writing with white fluid so it cannot be seen
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈwaɪt aʊt/
  • US
translation icon : corregir
  • So I sneak up to my room and I white out the "D" so it looks like a "B," which I did flawlessly.

They had whited out the Silver Star and wrote bronze with V and pen.

Examples

  • I opened a bottle of liquid paper and whited out the line.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Now take your white face paint and with your brush, paint to white out the bone area.

  • When's the last time you used white out, bro?

  • They had whited out the Silver Star and wrote bronze with V and pen.

    Shawn Ryan Show

  • I opened a bottle of correction fluid to white out the mistakes on my report before submitting it.

  • He used a brush to white out the incorrect numbers in his final draft.

  • Before handing in her assignment, she decided to white out the errors that were marked in red.

Synonyms

to blot out
vsto white out
8 5.4

Hide something so you cannot see it or remember it

hides writing by applying white fluid rather than erasing
to rub out
vsto white out
1 4.3

Erase a mark by using an eraser or cloth until it disappears

hides marks using white fluid instead of rubbing them away
to blank out
vsto white out
  • Literature
1 6.4

To remove words or other information from a document to hide them

hides marks with white fluid for visual correction not secrecy
to whiteout
vsto white out
  • US
4.4

To cover a mistake in writing with white correction fluid

covers any writing or marks not only printed errors

Antonyms

to reveal
∞ 2.3

Show something that was hidden or secret

Surface Forms

white out infinitive
white outed past
white outed past participle
whiteing out present participle
white outs third person singular

Morphology

white + out

The sense 'to cover writing with white correction fluid' is directly derivable from combining 'white' (to make white) with the particle 'out' (meaning completely/cover over); a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the action of making marks white to hide them. This follows a common verb+particle composition pattern in English and is cross-linguistically plausible, so the expression is transparently compositional.

Etymology

White out comes from using white correction fluid to cover words on paper. You put white over a mistake to make it out of sight, so the phrase means 'to hide' writing by covering it.