wipe slate clean and wipe the slate clean

wipe someone's slate clean and wipe the slate clean

Fig. to get rid of or erase someone's (bad) record. (As if erasing information recorded on a slate.) I'd like to wipe my slate clean and start all over again. Bob did badly in high school, but he wiped his slate clean and did a good job in college.See also: and, clean, slate, wipe