blue-pencil
1 of 2verb
blue-pen·cil ˈblü-ˈpen(t)-səl 
blue-penciled; blue-penciling; blue-pencils
transitive verb
: to edit especially by shortening or deletion
blue penciller noun
blue pencil
2 of 2noun
: a writing instrument used for editing
also : the act or practice of blue-penciling
Synonyms
Verb
- cancel
- cross (out)
- dele
- delete
- edit (out)
- elide
- kill
- scratch (out)
- strike (out)
- stroke (out)
- x (out)
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web
Aaron Lake Smith, Harper's magazine, 24 June 2019 But a blue pencil is as strong as a sword, and more cut and thrust would have made this book sharper. Laura Jacobs, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2018
Noun
Stalin’s blue pencil, unlike that of other editors, glided across not just poetry chapbooks and literary journals but life itself. Aaron Lake Smith, Harper's magazine, 24 June 2019 But a blue pencil is as strong as a sword, and more cut and thrust would have made this book sharper. Laura Jacobs, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2018 Word History
First Known Use
Verb
1888, in the meaning defined above
Noun
1845, in the meaning defined above
blue-penciling
verb
as in deleting
to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it military censors blue-penciled any remarks that could possibly be deemed critical Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- deleting
- removing
- erasing
- censoring
- deleing
- canceling
- killing
- crossing (out)
- stroking (out)
- wiping out
- scratching (out)
- editing (out)
- striking (out)
- eliding
- cancelling
- blotting out
- x-ing (out)
- clipping
- rubbing out
- eradicating
- x'ing (out)
- suppressing
- expunging
- shortening
- red-penciling
- obliterating
- effacing
- excising
- laundering
- blipping
- expurgating
- bowdlerizing
- blacking out
- bleeping
- rooting (out)
- redacting
- cropping
- cutting
- abbreviating
- silencing
- cleaning (up)
- repressing
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- stetting