wipe (v.)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to turn, vacillate, tremble ecstatically." 

It forms all or part of: gimlet; gimp (n.2) "ornamental trimming material;" vibrant; vibrate; vibration; vibrato; vibrissa; waif; waive; waiver; whip; wimple; wipe.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Latin vibrare "set in tremulous motion, move quickly to and fro, quiver, tremble, shake," Lithuanian vyburti "to wag" (the tail), Danish vippe, Dutch wippen "to swing," Old English wipan "to wipe."

also wipe-out, 1962, American English, surfer slang, from wipe (v.) + out. Sense of "destruction, defeat, a killing" is recorded from 1968. Verbal phrase wipe out "destroy, obliterate" is from 1610s.

1550s as a person, 1580s as a cloth, agent noun wipe (v.). From 1929 as short for windshield wiper.