In bash, how does one clear the current input?

Question

Suppose in bash you start writing a command like:

$ rm -rf /foo/bar/really/long/path/here

and then realize you don\'t want to execute this

Answer 1

Ctrl-U, Ctrl-K does the trick as well.

Ctrl-U deletes everything from the beginning of the line up to the cursor, Ctrl-K deletes everything from the cursor to the end of the line. (It is sometimes useful to use only one of them.)