erase
to rub or scrape out, as letters or characters written, engraved, etc.; efface.
to eliminate completely: She couldn't erase the tragic scene from her memory.
to obliterate (material recorded on magnetic tape or a magnetic disk): She erased the message.
to obliterate recorded material from (a magnetic tape or disk): He accidentally erased the tape.
Computers. to remove (data) from computer storage.
to exclude, replace, or refuse to recognize (the identity, experience, or contribution of a minority group or group member):Framing rape as a woman’s issue erases men’s accounts of sexual violence from public discourse.: See also whitewash (def. 7b).
Slang. to murder: The gang had to erase him before he informed on them.
to give way to effacement readily or easily.
to obliterate characters, letters, markings, etc., from something.
Origin of erase
1synonym study For erase
Other words for erase
Opposites for erase
Other words from erase
- e·ras·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- e·ras·a·ble, adjective
- half-e·rased, adjective
- non·e·ras·a·ble, adjective
- un·e·ras·a·ble, adjective
- un·e·rased, adjective
- un·e·ras·ing, adjective
Words that may be confused with erase
- erasable , irascible
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use erase in a sentence
The Industrial Revolution and Victorian practically erased the holiday in England.
The hard drive on a BBC laptop was erased and memory cards were wiped clean.
Violent Assaults on Reporters in Russia Go Unpunished | Anna Nemtsova | September 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIf they are not stopped, the borders that define the modern Middle East will be erased.
Obama’s War in Iraq Marks the Return of the Global War on Terror | Eli Lake | August 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSeveral months ago, I was told the number associated with my first cellphone was erased from existence.
Of course, as an executive order, the act can be erased if Cruz/Paul/Rubio/Bush/Perry takes Ohio in two years.
So now, as she regarded her mother, a loving smile erased the frown from Grace's forehead.
The Outdoor Girls in the Saddle | Laura Lee HopeIt is now illegible, and some of its lines appear to have been carefully erased—by some High Church chisel, probably.
East Anglia | J. Ewing RitchieThis owes its name to the fact of its having contained the word, Sheitan—now in every instance carefully erased.
The Cradle of Mankind | W.A. WigramHe is like a slate from which all the writing has been erased.
Riders of the Silences | John FrederickIt has, however, erased the external signs which formerly distinguished the members of one race from those of another.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology | Robert E. Park
British Dictionary definitions for erase
/ (ɪˈreɪz) /
to obliterate or rub out (something written, typed, etc)
(tr) to destroy all traces of; remove completely: time erases grief
to remove (a recording) from (magnetic tape)
(tr) computing to replace (data) on a storage device with characters representing an absence of data
Origin of erase
1Derived forms of erase
- erasable, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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