ruling out
Dismissing as impossible
Ruling out is eliminating something from consideration.
Doctors rule out conditions through tests: We've ruled out cancer.
Detectives rule out suspects.
The phrase often appears in negative constructions when possibilities remain open: I'm not ruling out a move to California.
To rule something out is to declare it impossible or unacceptable; to rule something in is the opposite.
- excludingLeaving something out
- eliminatingRemoving from consideration
- dismissingRemoving from position
- rejectingRefusing to accept
- passing onTransferring to someone else
discarding · scratching · vetoing · nixing · striking down · shot down · precluding · disqualifying · diagnosis · narrowing down · process of elimination · striking · canceling · barring · blacklisting · refusing · saying no · impossible
- judgmentsjudgment call, judge, moral judgment, criticize, value judgment
- No-Gobanned, forbidden, off-limits, illegal, outlawed
- exclusionsexclude, exclusion, excluding, except, exception
- diagnosisdifferential diagnosis, diagnosis, diagnostic criteria, patient assessment, clinical judgment
- diagnosticsCT scan, rapid test, blood test, physical exam, antigen test
ruling outconfirming
Establishing truth of something
verifying · validating · establishing · proving · substantiating
ruling outconsidering
Mentally evaluating something
entertaining · including · contemplating · weighing · admitting
ruling, out, rule, rules, ruled, ruler, rulers, rulership, overrule