erasure

[ ih-rey-sher ]

noun

1. an act or instance of erasing.
2. a place where something has been erased; a spot or mark left after erasing:

   You can't sign a contract with so many erasures in it.

3. 1. the exclusion of a minority group or group member from the historical record, or from the discussion of current events: black victim erasure in the crime-bill debate.

      erasure of female scientists from textbooks;

      black victim erasure in the crime-bill debate.

   2. the replacement or whitewashing of a minority character or group with a member or members of the dominant cultural group in fictional representations of historical events:

      minority erasure in film.

   3. the denial of an individual’s or group’s minority identity, or the misidentification of a minority group member: cultural erasure and white identity among Chicanos.

      trans-erasure issues in the LGBT community;

      cultural erasure and white identity among Chicanos.

erasure

/ ɪˈreɪʒə /

noun

1. the act or an instance of erasing
2. the place or mark, as on a piece of paper, where something has been erased

Other Words From

• none·rasure noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of erasure¹

First recorded in 1725–35; erase + -ure

Example Sentences

Linking Scott’s legacy to a bird “is just adding to the erasure by putting another layer over it.”

From Science News

The good news is that historians and journalists, as well as the women themselves, have been working hard to reverse this erasure and are having significant success.

From MIT Technology Review

More than an erasure of historical fact it is another example of the ongoing and dangerous practice of cherry-picking parts of our past to fit prepackaged national myths.

From Washington Post

By exploiting the rules that neurons use to learn new associations, these next-generation electroceuticals may enable permanent disease erasure.

From Nautilus

The sheet ended up being wounded by a playful machete, full of cut phrases, notes on the edges, reminders, arrows that redirect the reading and erasures in search of a better piece in each version.

From Washington Blade

In this way, inspiration becomes appropriation, which leads directly to theft and erasure.

From The Daily Beast

While many of these depictions play into bisexual erasure, others reinforce harmful bisexual stereotypes.

From The Daily Beast

The act of erasure through mis- or under-representation is an insidious one.

From The Daily Beast

The total erasure of former employees is so familiar it even has a nickname.

From The Daily Beast

I love the way erasure becomes a tool for depiction and emphasis, and failure becomes a heroic condition.

From The Daily Beast

The French attorney general demanded the erasure of his name from the list of magistrates, but this the court refused.

From Project Gutenberg

For answer she bent over her typewriter and began to make an erasure.

From Project Gutenberg

Bruslart (ubi supra, i. 136) denies that the erasure was actually made as Charles had commanded.

From Project Gutenberg

This thin paste of wax was also spread on tablets of wood, that it might more easily admit of erasure.

From Project Gutenberg

Consequently the action of the iodine differs according to the extent of the erasure.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• deletion