rule out

As John Doe had an alibi, the police were able to rule him out as a suspect.

The constant rain ruled out any chance of a game of tennis.

And Martin Skrtel's late headed goal was rightly ruled out for offside.

Flair and invention were very much at a premium, suffocated by the relentless pace and often fractious nature of proceedings. The absence of James Morrison from the centre of Scotland’s midfield, the West Brom man ruled out on the morning of the game by illness, had already diminished the creative capacity of the home side in that department.