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Webster 1913 Edition


Erase

E-rase′

(ē̍-rās′)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Erased
(ē̍-rāst′)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
.
Erasing
.]
[L.
erasus
, p. p. of
eradere
to erase;
e
out +
radere
to scrape, scratch, shave. See
Rase
.]
1.
To rub or scrape out, as letters or characters written, engraved, or painted; to efface; to expunge; to cross out;
as, to
erase
a word or a name
.
2.
Fig.: To obliterate; to expunge; to blot out; – used of ideas in the mind or memory.
Burke.

Webster 1828 Edition


Erase

ERA'SE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. erado, erasi; e and rado, to scrape; Heb. a graving tool.]
1.
To rub or scrape out, as letters or characters written, engraved or painted; to efface; as, to erase a word or a name.
2.
To obliterate; to expunge; to blot out; as with pen and ink.
3.
To efface; to destroy; as ideas in the mind or memory.
4.
To destroy to the foundation. [See Raze.]

Definition 2024


erase

erase

See also: érase

English

Verb

erase (third-person singular simple present erases, present participle erasing, simple past and past participle erased)

  1. (transitive) to remove markings or information
    I erased that note because it was wrong.
  2. (transitive) To obliterate information from (a storage medium), such as to clear or (with magnetic storage) to demagnetize.
    I'm going to erase this tape.
  3. (transitive) To obliterate (information) from a storage medium, such as to clear or to overwrite.
    I'm going to erase those files.
  4. (transitive, baseball) To remove a runner from the bases via a double play or pick off play
    Jones was erased by a 6-4-3 double play.
  5. (intransitive) To be erased (have markings removed, have information removed, or be cleared of information).
    The chalkboard erased easily.
    Her painful memories seemingly erased completely.
    The files will erase quickly.
  6. (transitive) To disregard (a group, an orientation, etc.); to prevent from having an active role in society.
    • 1998, Janice Lynn Ristock, Catherine Taylor, Inside the academy and out
      I suggest, then, that counterdiscourses, when reductive, tend to emulate the screen discourse that erases gay sociality.
    • 2004, Daniel Lefkowitz, Words and Stones (page 209)
      As a result, Palestinians are hyperpresent in Israeli media, while Mizrahim are erased from public discourse.
    • 2011, Qwo-Li Driskill, Queer Indigenous Studies (page 40)
      Silence around Native sexuality benefits the colonizers and erases queer Native people from their communities.

Derived terms

Related terms

Antonyms

  • (remove markings or information): record

Translations

Anagrams


Italian

Verb

erase

  1. third-person singular past historic of eradere

erase f

  1. plural of eraso

Latin

Participle

ērāse

  1. vocative masculine singular of ērāsus