delete
Americanverb (used with object)
-
deletes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deleted,
past participle, past
-
deleting
present participle
verb
Usage
What is basic definition of delete? Delete means to remove or destroy something, specifically something that is written, printed, or stored on a computer. Before the Internet, delete often referred to removing something from drafts of books, letters, newspapers, and other materials. Today, delete often refers to either hitting a key on a keyboard that erases text or telling a computer to get rid of a file, as by placing a document in the trash can. A person may also want to delete (deactivate) a social media account.
- Real-life examples: When you’re writing an essay, you might delete some paragraphs and add others. To better use data storage space, you might delete all of your junk email or delete a bunch of photos from your smartphone.
- Used in a sentence: The reporter deleted the final two paragraphs of the story in order to make it shorter.
Synonym Usage
See cancel.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
deletesimple
-
deletessimple
-
have deletedperfect
-
has deletedperfect
-
am deletingprogressive
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are deletingprogressive
-
is deletingprogressive
-
have been deletingperfect progressive
-
has been deletingperfect progressive
Past
-
deletedsimple
-
had deletedperfect
-
was deletingprogressive
-
were deletingprogressive
-
had been deletingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of delete
1485–95; < Latin dēlētus (past participle of dēlēre to destroy), equivalent to dēl- destroy + -ē- thematic vowel + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
The author looked at the computer screen in horror. With one keystroke she had deleted her entire manuscript. Delete means to erase. Delete has its roots in Latin and was first used to mean destroy. In modern usage, delete means to remove completely. Delete used in writing means to edit by removing, often done by drawing a line through the text to be deleted . This process is also called “blue-penciling,” due to the use of the blue colored pencil that some editors use.
Vocabulary lists containing delete
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 7–11
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Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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Fear and Loathing in Cleveland: Trump's RNC Acceptance Speech
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Takahashi, however, said TikTok was "no longer obliged to delete" the videos in question because the anonymous user behind them had taken them down several months after the lawsuit began.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
“Please delete this,” she urged French on X. “This post breaks my heart. I see college kids cheering on their football team. I see Texans.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
There are fears they could delete emails, which Meta has said itself, or charge a credit card without authorization.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
She said he insisted she delete social media so their relationship remained "just between us".
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Several kinds of verbiage are perennial targets for the delete key.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
When a foreign company transfers funds, the U.S. clearing bank effectively deletes dollars from the foreign company’s account and adds them to the other party’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
Claude-powered AI coding agent deletes entire company database in 9 seconds.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 28, 2026
He said he deletes the entries of ICE agents who have quit.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2026
The BBC has written to Perplexity, which is based in the US, demanding it immediately stops using BBC content, deletes any it holds, and proposes financial compensation for the material it has already used.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025
Maybe Ms. Morales is just one of those people who deletes text messages right after she reads them, Emma told herself.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Bryan quickly deleted the screenshots, but LaPaglia responded with several posts of her own, including what she claimed was a message from Bryan’s manager detailing potential terms of an NDA.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
He then quickly deleted some content on his phone before running into the golf club.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Since then, some 130 million names have been deleted from final or preliminary electoral rolls, according to tallies from official data compiled by activists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
The video went viral on X before it was deleted for violating platform rules.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
I shoved the iPod into my backpack, peeved about the deleted playlist and Mrs. B’s snarky comments.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Although the account itself is no longer viewable on the platform, the Tokyo District Court will rule on whether TikTok was responsible for deleting the posts.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
The lawsuit claims that the Education Department gave servicers instructions, known as a change request, on how to process these group loan discharges, including deleting credit trade lines.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
The report claims that when DseWiki's editors started deleting pages, the AI agents shared code designed to retrieve them.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
The company built a “policy server” that prevents agents from doing things like deleting data sets, and stops Cisco data from being used to train third-party models, Subaiya said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
I've been typing this and deleting this and trying to think of a better way to phrase this.
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
