as in to delete
to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it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
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Recent Examples of blue-pencil
Before getting sunk by a turgid love story — the kind of cinematic dead zone Thalberg would have blue-penciled in the screenplay stage — The Last Tycoon provides a good sense of what a producer actually does.
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Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blue-pencil
Verb
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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kardashian actually deleted an earlier version of the post but then put it back up.—
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Baldoni's lawyers later claimed in a letter to Judge Lewis Liman that Lively previously requested for Swift to delete the women's text messages.—
Verb
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That band faces a similar situation as Mariachi Joya Azteca, with at least two major events canceled in 2025.—
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The Anker 737 Power Bank keeps multiple devices running and charging, from your phone to your noise-canceling headphones, without weighing down your bag.—
Cite this Entry
“Blue-pencil.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blue-pencil. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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