erase

[ih-reys] /ɪˈreɪs/
verb (used with object), erased, erasing.
1.
to rub or scrape out, as letters or characters written, engraved, etc.; efface.
2.
to eliminate completely:
She couldn't erase the tragic scene from her memory.
3.
to obliterate (material recorded on magnetic tape or a magnetic disk):
She erased the message.
4.
to obliterate recorded material from (a magnetic tape or disk):
He accidentally erased the tape.
5.
Computers. to remove (data) from computer storage.
6.
Slang. to murder:
The gang had to erase him before he informed on them.
verb (used without object), erased, erasing.
7.
to give way to effacement readily or easily.
8.
to obliterate characters, letters, markings, etc., from something.
Origin
1595-1605; < Latin ērāsus (past participle of ērādere), equivalent to ē- e-1 + rāsus scraped; see raze
Related forms
erasability, noun
erasable, adjective
half-erased, adjective
nonerasable, adjective
unerasable, adjective
unerased, adjective
unerasing, adjective
Can be confused
erasable, irascible.
Synonyms
1. expunge, obliterate. See cancel.
Antonyms
1, 3. restore.
Examples from the web for erase
  • After a scream of pain from the victim, they erase his memory and send him back to earth.
British Dictionary definitions for erase

erase

/ɪˈreɪz/
verb
1.
to obliterate or rub out (something written, typed, etc)
2.
(transitive) to destroy all traces of; remove completely: time erases grief
3.
to remove (a recording) from (magnetic tape)
4.
(transitive) (computing) to replace (data) on a storage device with characters representing an absence of data
Derived Forms
erasable, adjective
Word Origin
C17: from Latin ērādere to scrape off, from ex-1 + rādere to scratch, scrape
Word Origin and History for erase
v.

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.

Slang definitions & phrases for erase

erase

verb

To kill; rub out (1940s+)


erase in Technology


delete