erase
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to rub or scrape out, as letters or characters written, engraved, etc.; efface.
- Synonyms:
- obliterate, expunge
- Antonyms:
- restore
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to eliminate completely.
She couldn't erase the tragic scene from her memory.
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to obliterate (material recorded on magnetic tape or a magnetic disk).
She erased the message.
- Antonyms:
- restore
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to obliterate recorded material from (a magnetic tape or disk).
He accidentally erased the tape.
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Computers. to remove (data) from computer storage.
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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.
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Slang. to murder.
The gang had to erase him before he informed on them.
verb (used without object)
-
to give way to effacement readily or easily.
-
to obliterate characters, letters, markings, etc., from something.
verb
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to obliterate or rub out (something written, typed, etc)
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(tr) to destroy all traces of; remove completely
time erases grief
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to remove (a recording) from (magnetic tape)
-
(tr) computing to replace (data) on a storage device with characters representing an absence of data
Synonym Usage
See cancel.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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erasabilitynoun
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erasableadjective
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half-erasedadjective
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nonerasableadjective
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unerasableadjective
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unerasedadjective
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unerasingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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erasesimple
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erasessimple
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have erasedperfect
-
has erasedperfect
-
am erasingprogressive
-
are erasingprogressive
-
is erasingprogressive
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have been erasingperfect progressive
-
has been erasingperfect progressive
Past
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erasedsimple
-
had erasedperfect
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was erasingprogressive
-
were erasingprogressive
-
had been erasingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of erase
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin ērāsus (past participle of ērādere ), equivalent to ē- e- 1 + rāsus “scraped”; see raze
Explanation
When you erase something, you eliminate or delete it, often by physically wiping it out. It's easy to erase chalk from a blackboard, but not so easy to erase graffiti from the side of a building. There are several ways to erase: you can erase a pencil mark with an eraser; you can digitally erase information on your computer or recording device; and you can figuratively erase something by removing all evidence of it. Peaceful people hope to erase war from the earth, for example — to take away every last trace of it. The Latin root eradere means "scrape out."
Vocabulary lists containing erase
"American Names"
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5-letter words, List 1
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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:
“This arrest demonstrates that time does not erase accountability,” Wing Chau, U.S. marshal for the District of Rhode Island, said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Their arrest does not erase the culture that elevated them.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
Unlike Earth, the Moon has no active plate tectonics, flowing water, or substantial atmosphere to rapidly erase old craters.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
"They can remove the statues, but they can never erase Bogyoke's image," one Yangon resident said, using the Burmese word for general to describe Aung San.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
His was the lone voice telling me to just go for it, to erase the worries and go toward whatever I thought would make me happy.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
But more than that, it obscures the reality and erases the history of transgender lives by diminishing the significant time, money, and effort many transgender people spend to align their body with their sex.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
“Their vessel leaves a smooth, filigree-edged road on the ocean that vanishes and erases itself,” Enda notices on her voyage, “so that they can never find their way back, even if they want to.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
The three singers at least remember the name of the “Men in Black” device that erases your memory: The Neuralyzer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026
At about 180 million years old, they formed during a time when animals were actively disturbing the seafloor worldwide, which normally erases delicate microbial textures.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 8, 2026
And with the press of a button she erases his fear.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Its shares slid nearly 7% Thursday amid a broader tech selloff that erased hundreds of billions of dollars from the Mag 7 stocks’ value.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Despite the harassment, Iran did not lose a game, playing to three draws despite having three goals — any of which would have sent it to the knockout rounds — erased by video reviews.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Tattooists say "bottomless tattoo" events are devaluing their craft, as removal specialists report growing demand from people wanting tiny tattoos erased.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Earth's constantly changing surface has likely erased much of this ancient evidence.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026
Shaffer found that large parts of it were overgrown or erased by wholesale logging.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Typically, “the Court’s cases neither name nor quote the disfranchised, erasing their voices from law’s past.”
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
Alnylam stock is up 2.4%, erasing some gains after opening up 16%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
In fact, the Glassdoor report noted that remote workers may be feeling increased pressure to log more working hours at home, effectively erasing the time they saved by skipping the commute.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026
Shares in Halma were down 11% in European morning trading Thursday, erasing part of the stock’s gains over the past few months to leave it up 17% since the start of the year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
The breeze smoothed the sands, erasing the print.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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.
