zero out

English

Verb

zero out (third-person singular simple present zeroes out or zeros out, present participle zeroing out, simple past and past participle zeroed out)

  1. (transitive) To reduce to zero.
    The bill was over $400, but the server zeroed it out as a gesture of gratitude.
  2. (transitive) To cut off funding for (a project).
  3. (computing, transitive) To fill with zeros, replacing any previous contents.
    to zero out an array
  4. (telecommunications, intransitive) To press or dial 0 in order to escape a voicemail recording facility and speak to an operator.
  5. (intransitive, slang) To go bankrupt.
    • 2010, R. Thomas Roe, Palm Beach Gold, page 169:
      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.

Synonyms

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