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rule out

verb

  1. eliminate from consideration
L1464567 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

verb

  1. To cross an item out by drawing a straight line through it, as with a ruler.
  2. To reject an option from a list of possibilities.

    As Jane Doe had an alibi, the police were able to rule her out as a suspect.

    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.

  3. To make something impossible.

    The constant rain ruled out any chance of a game of tennis.

  4. To disallow.

    And Martin Skrtel's late headed goal was rightly ruled out for offside.

  5. 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.

rule out — meaning, definition (verb) · Vinony