wipe down

verb

To clean the exterior surface of an object, from top to bottom, typically by hand using a damp dishcloth or other cleaning cloth.

“Please wipe down the kitchen appliances.”

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Meanings

verbwipe down (third-person singular simple present wipes down, present participle wiping down, simple past and past participle wiped down)

present singular third person wipes down · participle present wiping down · participle past wiped down · past wiped down

  1. To clean the exterior surface of an object, from top to bottom, typically by hand using a damp dishcloth or other cleaning cloth.

    Please wipe down the kitchen appliances.

    3 more examples

    The fridge door is grimy. Please wipe it down with some spray cleaner.

    Since. f. A dish-cloth, fleece-cloth, cloth to wipe down tables, or to rub the house.

    1673, Randle Cotgrave, A French and English dictionary, page SIL SIM SIN

    "Officially...no comment," Randy answered and he took the damp kitchen towel from Annie and used it to wipe down the countertop of any dish water residue.

    2013, Mike Gilmore, chapter 29, in Levels of Power: The Legislator, →ISBN, page 160
Cite this entry
APA

wipe down. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wipe%20down

MLA

“wipe down.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wipe%20down. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wipe down,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wipe%20down.

Source: wipe down on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.