wipe up
wipe up — idiom
1. to use a cloth, towel, or sponge to soak up and remove liquid that has been acci
to use a cloth, towel, or sponge to soak up and remove liquid that has been accidentally spilled on a surface such as a table, floor, or counter.
Camille used a paper towel to wipe up the milk she had knocked over.
wipe up + liquid noun (milk)
The waiter hurried over with a cloth to wipe up the spilled wine before it stained the carpet.
purpose: to prevent damage from liquid
Sayaka grabbed a sponge and wiped the puddle of water up from the bathroom floor.
A neighbour brought a mop and helped Ravi wipe up the flood of water from the broken pipe.
文法句型
wipe up + noun phrase
wipe + noun phrase + up
用法筆記
The object (the liquid or spill) can come either after 'up' or between 'wipe' and 'up': 'wipe up the spill' or 'wipe the spill up'. This sense is strongly associated with liquids — for dry messes (crumbs, dust) use the phrasal verb sense instead.
常見錯誤
wipe up — phrasal verb
- wipe upbase form
- wipes up3rd person singular
- wiping up-ing form
- wiped uppast simple
1. to clean a surface with a cloth or towel, removing food, dirt, crumbs, or other
to clean a surface with a cloth or towel, removing food, dirt, crumbs, or other unwanted matter and leaving the area dry and tidy.
After breakfast, Tendai wiped up the toast crumbs from the kitchen counter.
wipe up + solid particles (crumbs)
Gabriel asked the children to wipe up the sticky fingerprint marks they had left on the glass door.
purpose: remove marks/residue from a surface
Dahlia took a damp cloth and wiped the muddy footprints up from the hallway tiles.
Hannah filled a bucket with soapy water and wiped up the greasy stove top after cooking.
- clean up
more general; can involve sweeping, scrubbing, or other methods, not just a cloth
- clear away
focuses on removing objects rather than cleaning the surface itself
文法句型
wipe up + noun phrase
wipe + noun phrase + up
用法筆記
Unlike the idiom sense, this phrasal verb is used for both wet and dry messes on a surface. The focus is on leaving the surface clean rather than on absorbing a liquid. The separable structure ('wipe the counter up' / 'wipe up the counter') works with both concrete objects ('crumbs', 'dirt') and general references ('the mess').