erase

[ ih-reys ]

/ ɪˈreɪs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR erase ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), e·rased, e·ras·ing.

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.

Slang. to murder: The gang had to erase him before he informed on them.

verb (used without object), e·rased, e·ras·ing.

to give way to effacement readily or easily.

to obliterate characters, letters, markings, etc., from something.

Nearby words

Origin of erase

1595–1605; < Latin ērāsus (past participle of ērādere), equivalent to ē- e-¹ + rāsus scraped; see raze

SYNONYMS FOR erase

1. expunge, obliterate.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR erase ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR erase

1, 3. restore.

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Related forms

e·ras·a·bil·i·ty, noune·ras·a·ble, adjectivehalf-e·rased, adjectivenon·e·ras·a·ble, adjective

un·e·ras·a·ble, adjectiveun·e·rased, adjectiveun·e·ras·ing, adjective

Can be confusederasable irascible

Synonym study

1. See cancel.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for erase

Do as Tumblr has done and scrub her last words off the Internet—erase everything she wanted the world to hear.
Cover-Ups and Concern Trolls: Actually, It's About Ethics in Suicide Journalism|Arthur Chu|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Is this a mature expression of understandable judgment, or a bid to erase history while conflating fiction and reality?
Newsflash: Bill Cosby Is Not Cliff Huxtable|Tim Teeman|November 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Its militants say explicitly they are out to erase the borders that Sykes-Picot established across most of the modern Middle East.
Turkish President Declares Lawrence of Arabia a Bigger Enemy than ISIS|Jamie Dettmer|October 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Later, she told a local reporter that she had used a chemical to erase her fingerprints.
The Mystery Woman Who Tried to Outdo Dillinger|Michael Daly|September 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

I immediately realized I needed to do something to erase that legacy from my memory.
Paul Haggis on Scientology, the ‘Crash’ Oscar, and ‘Third Person’|Kevin Fallon|June 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The shaman is frequently seen correcting the workmen and making them erase and revise their work.
The Mountain Chant, A Navajo Ceremony|Washington Matthews
I scribbled in pencil—which you can erase with a bit of bread—some notes on the Cajan song, that may interest you.
The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn, Volume 1|Elizabeth Bisland
The test applied was to erase some particular letter of the alphabet from one page of a book.
The Sexual Life of the Child|Albert Moll
We may have to use her own machine once more to erase the memory of its structure from her mind.
The Cartels Jungle|Irving E. Cox, Jr.
If they should allow it, they will erase it from this account, No. 2.
The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution (Volume VI)|Various

British Dictionary definitions for erase

erase

/ (ɪˈreɪz) /

verb

to obliterate or rub out (something written, typed, etc)

(tr) to destroy all traces of; remove completelytime 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

Derived Formserasable, adjective

Word Origin for erase

C17: from Latin ērādere to scrape off, from ex- 1 + rādere to scratch, scrape

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 erase

erase

c.1600, from Latin erasus, past participle of eradere "scrape out, scrape off, shave," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + radere "to scrape" (see raze). Of magnetic tape, from 1945. Related: Erased; erasing.