Dictionary

rule out en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (transitive) To cross an item out by drawing a straight line through it, as with a ruler.
2. (idiomatic, transitive) To reject an option from a list of possibilities.
   • Arson has not been ruled out in a fire that broke out Friday in Yungho, New Taipei, causing one death and 24 injuries, the city's fire department said that day. 2014 September 12, “Deadly New Taipei blaze: arson suspected”, in Focus Taiwan, archived from the original on 03 Oct 2022, Society:
   • In general, steel springs were stipulated for primary suspension, although rubber was accepted for auxiliary springing; hydraulic dampers were specified and the use of laminated springs ruled out. 1960 December, “The first hundred 25 kV a.c. electric locomotives for B.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 726:
   • Electrification of the Midland Main Line has not been ruled out. 2020 April 8, “Network News: MML still on electrification agenda”, in Rail, page 23:
   • As Jane Doe had an alibi, the police were able to rule her out as a suspect.
   • The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has categorically ruled out any new negotiations saying the future of the Falklands can only be decided by the islanders themselves in accordance with the UN principle of self-determination. 2013 January 3, Luke Harding, Uki Goni, The Guardian:
   • He would be well advised to be cautious, despite the fragile ceasefire that the US President Donald Trump and the Emir of Qatar brokered. Though President Trump reportedly told Israel not to kill Iran's supreme leader, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule it out. 2025 June 26, Kasra Naji, “When Iran's supreme leader emerges from hiding he will find a very different nation”, in BBC:
3. (idiomatic, transitive) To make something impossible.
   • The constant rain ruled out any chance of a game of tennis.
4. (transitive) To disallow.
   • And Martin Skrtel's late headed goal was rightly ruled out for offside. 2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC:
5. (transitive) To make unavailable.
   • Flair and invention were very much at a premium, suffocated by the relentless pace and often fractious nature of proceedings. The absence of James Morrison from the centre of Scotland’s midfield, the West Brom man ruled out on the morning of the game by illness, had already diminished the creative capacity of the home side in that department. 2014 November 14, Stephen Halliday, “Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero”, in The Scotsman:

Forms

Antonyms

allow (make impossible) · consider (reject) · rule in (reject)

Synonyms

reject (reject) · eliminate (reject) · preclude (make impossible)

Translations (46)

fr exclure (to make something impossible) · fi hylätä (to cross out) · de zurücknehmen (to disallow — see also disallow) · fi yliviivata (to cross out) · uk ви́ключити (to make something impossible) · ru исключа́ть (to make something impossible) · nl uitsluiten (to make something impossible) · fr exclure (to reject from list of possibilities) · it escludere (to make something impossible) · pt riscar (to cross out) · de streichen (to reject from list of possibilities) · fi hylätä (to disallow — see also disallow) · fr biffer (to cross out) · es descartar (to reject from list of possibilities) · sv döma bort (to disallow — see also disallow) · de ausschließen (to reject from list of possibilities) · ru исключи́ть (to make something impossible) · de annullieren (to disallow — see also disallow) · de durchkreuzen (to make something impossible) · ja 排除する (to make something impossible) · pt excluir (a possibilidade de) (to make something impossible) · fi hylätä (to reject from list of possibilities) · id menggugurkan (to make something impossible) · de ausfallen (to make unavailable) · fr barrer (to cross out) · de fehlen (to make unavailable) · hu kizár (to reject from list of possibilities) · es descartar (to make something impossible) · cmn 排除 (to make something impossible) · ca descartar (to reject from list of possibilities) · ja 除外する (to make something impossible) · pt excluir (to reject from list of possibilities) · de wegfallen (to make unavailable) · de streichen (to disallow — see also disallow) · sv utesluta (to reject from list of possibilities) · fr exclure (to disallow — see also disallow) · cs vyloučit (to make something impossible) · fr interdire (to make something impossible) · pl wykluczać (to make something impossible) · fr écarter (to reject from list of possibilities) · pt descartar (to reject from list of possibilities) · fi sulkea pois (to reject from list of possibilities) · fr éliminer (to reject from list of possibilities) · de durchstreichen (to cross out) · uk виключа́ти (to make something impossible) · fi estää (to make something impossible)