paint out

paint out verb: to obliterate by painting over.

Verb

paint out (third-person singular simple present paints out, present participle painting out, simple past and past participle painted out)

(transitive) To obliterate by painting over.
- Joseph's face was painted out. In place of Joseph's monarchic face the word Constitution was painted in. But the reign of Joseph was not over.1938, Charles Poore, Goya
- The Clone Brush can be used to paint out the imperfection or the obstructing object.2003, Lori J Davis, Paint Shop Pro 8 Power!
(figuratively, transitive) To describe, possibly so as to misrepresent.
- The smattering of experience gained during Braddock's expedition, painted him out to the leading men of Frederick, as qualified to command the first company...1827, Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States
- If the congregation will attend to-morrow, I will give them a description of anti-Christ, and paint him out in his proper colors.1847, Charles Sparry, The Illustrated Christian Martyrology

paint out (plural paint outs)

An event where artists congregate in an outdoor scenic area for the purpose of completing realistic paintings from life.

Verb
third-person singular present	paints out
present participle	painting out
past participle	painted out
past	painted out
Noun
plural	paint outs

What does paint out mean?: Paint out means to obliterate by painting over.
What part of speech is paint out?: Paint out can be a verb or a noun.
What is the past tense of paint out?: The past tense of paint out is painted out.

Adapted from Wiktionary: paint out (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “paint out.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paint_out. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.