as in to exclude
to prevent the participation, consideration, or inclusion of
another loss would rule them out of the tournament
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Recent Examples of rule out
The Chinese Premier has also not ruled out using force to achieve that aim.
—
Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 15 May 2026
Five players are already ruled out, with key players Pascal Struijk and Ethan Ampadu also rated as major doubts.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 15 May 2026
As the Dallas Morning News reports, Abbott ruled out endorsing either candidate on Thursday, May 14.
—Mateo Rosiles, USA Today, 15 May 2026
But Smith hasn’t completely ruled out music for good.
—Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for rule out
Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 15 May 2026
Five players are already ruled out, with key players Pascal Struijk and Ethan Ampadu also rated as major doubts.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 15 May 2026
As the Dallas Morning News reports, Abbott ruled out endorsing either candidate on Thursday, May 14.
—Mateo Rosiles, USA Today, 15 May 2026
But Smith hasn’t completely ruled out music for good.
—Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for rule out
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rule out
Verb
-
To ensure the fairness and credibility of our readers’ poll, any votes originating from the same IP address that exceed 20 submissions will be excluded from the final tally.—
Baltimore Sun staff,
Baltimore Sun,
15 May 2026
-
To meet their growth targets, banks hired increasing numbers of women, African Americans, Asian Americans, and white ethnics, all of whom had been excluded from or simply wary about pursuing careers in finance.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
Three sitting rooms are complemented by a further three members’ social spaces for carousing in, concealed behind a subtle screen (here, DJs including Goldierocks make appearances, and mobile snaps are banned; staff politely place a sticker over mobile camera lenses).—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
18 May 2026
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Public libraries in 2025 navigated a year that saw the challenging, and banning of, thousands of books, stiffer budgetary limits and federal threats to funding.—
Adeel Hassan,
New York Times,
18 May 2026
Verb
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At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, some fans holding the flag or bearing anti-government slogans complained of being barred from some stadiums, but the policy wasn’t universal.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
19 May 2026
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Newsom reports making millions of dollars from his hospitality business, whose assets are held in a blind trust run by his sister and cousin that he has been barred from accessing since entering office in 2019.—
Lia Russell,
Sacbee.com,
19 May 2026
Verb
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Young and Elijah came to blows on the apron, knowing that as soon as their feet touch the ground, they would be eliminated.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
15 May 2026
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ReCircled said Avery Dennison’s RFID technology helped eliminate some of the cost and operational inefficiencies of manual product identification, including inaccurate identification of garments.—
Jennifer Bringle,
Footwear News,
14 May 2026
Verb
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Being able to shut out the noise kept it from drowning out her voice.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
20 May 2026
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Wheeler’s win over Pittsburgh followed a masterful performance by Phillies left-hander, Christopher Sanchez, who shut out the same Pirates club May 16.—
Bernie Pleskoff,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2026
Verb
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Many Democrats, spooked by the prospect of their party being frozen out in June’s top-two primary, have been clinging to their ballots, intending to vote at the last moment for whichever Democrat appears likeliest to finish first.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2026
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There, scientists guess that lower temperatures are causing carbon dioxide to freeze out of the atmosphere, with the CO2 falling as dry-ice snow and pulling dust down with it.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
14 May 2026
Verb
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Honest behavior has to do with telling the truth, but also prevents cheating, stealing, misleading, promise-breaking, fraud, self-deception, hypocrisy, BS-ing.—
Fiction Non Fiction,
Literary Hub,
21 May 2026
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Israel is razing and looting homes and has vowed to prevent hundreds of thousands of residents, predominantly Shiites, though also members of other religious communities, from returning.—
Rania Abouzeid,
New Yorker,
21 May 2026
Verb
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The Mennonite faith doesn’t prohibit vaccines.—
Mary Beth Sheridan,
CNN Money,
17 May 2026
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The law limits how police can share plate data with out-of-state agencies, adds data retention rules and prohibits use of the systems for immigration enforcement.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rule out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rule%20out. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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