zero out

present singular third person zeroes out · present singular third person zeros out · participle present zeroing out · participle past zeroed out · past zeroed out

1. transitiveTo reduce to zero.

   The bill was over $400, but the server zeroed it out as a gesture of gratitude.

   Synonyms: zeroize

2. transitiveTo cut off funding for (a project).
3. transitivecomputingTo fill with zeros, replacing any previous contents.

   to zero out an array

4. intransitivecommunicationsTo press or dial 0 in order to escape a voicemail recording facility and speak to an operator.
5. intransitiveslangTo go bankrupt.

   What if he zeroed out on this case? He had spent the Carson case nest egg and was in hock for the next ten years if he had to pay what he was borrowing.

   2010, R. Thomas Roe, Palm Beach Gold, page 169

6. transitiveTo kill (someone).