delete
[dih-leet]
- to strike out or remove (something written or printed); cancel; erase; expunge.
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Origin of delete
1485–95; < Latin dēlētus (past participle of dēlēre to destroy), equivalent to dēl- destroy + -ē- thematic vowel + -tus past participle suffix
Synonyms
See more synonyms for delete on Thesaurus.comeradicate.
Synonym study
See cancel.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for delete
Contemporary Examples
Ultimately, all it took was the mere mention of a lawyer for the perpetrator to delete the accounts and disappear completely.
The Navy captain responded to the text from Bissonnette with the words, “Delete me.”
‘They Don’t Call It SEAL Team 6-Year-Old for Nothing’: Commandos Clash Over Tell-All BookKimberly Dozier
November 3, 2014
Or perhaps just delete your social media accounts altogether.
Or, I should say, why did Facebook delete my account three times?
Of course, the incentive for the Gingrich team would be not to delete the phony accounts.
Your Fake Followers Are Catfishing You: Bacon Mavens, Newt’s Fake Fans, and Other Social Media ScamsCharles Seife
July 3, 2014
Historical Examples
Page 102, middle, delete comma after them; insert comma after nave.
How to judge architectureRussell Sturgis
“Quit it, delete it, cease it,” Chauncey Delarouse admonished testily.
The Red OneJack London
They were to delete him from the category of those who might be taken.
The Press-Gang Afloat and AshoreJohn R. Hutchinson
Maybe I should just delete it, take temptation out of your way.
Little BrotherCory Doctorow
It was curtailed, but delete it as one would, it was still too long.
The English StageAugustin Filon
delete
- (tr) to remove (something printed or written); erase; cancel; strike out
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin dēlēre to destroy, obliterate
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
Word Origin and History for delete
v.
late 15c., "destroy, eradicate," from Latin deletus, past participle of delere "destroy, blot out, efface," from delevi, originally perfective tense of delinere "to daub, erase by smudging" (as of the wax on a writing table), from de- "from, away" (see de-) + linere "to smear, wipe" (see lime (n.1)). In English, specifically of written matter, from c.1600. Related: Deleted; deleting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper