efface

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ef·face

(ĭ-fās′)

v. ef·faced, ef·fac·ing, ef·fac·es

v.tr.

1. To rub or wipe out; erase: The serial number had been effaced from the stolen product.

2. To remove or make indistinct: "Five years' absence had done nothing to efface the people's memory of his firmness" (Alan Moorehead).

3. To conduct (oneself) inconspicuously: "When the two women went out together, Anna deliberately effaced herself and played to the dramatic Molly" (Doris Lessing).

4. Medicine To cause to become shorter, softer, and thinner during labor: The cervix was effaced as the contractions continued.

v.intr.

Medicine To become shorter, softer, and thinner during labor. Used of the cervix.

[Middle English effacen, from French effacer, from Old French esfacier : es-, out (from Latin ex-, ex-) + face, face; see face.]

ef·face′a·ble adj.

ef·face′ment n.

ef·fac′er n.

ef·fa·cé

(ĕf′ə-sā′)

A position in ballet in which the dancer stands at an angle to the audience so that part of the body is hidden from view.

[French, from past participle of effacer, to efface; see efface.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

efface

(ɪˈfeɪs)

vb (tr)

1. to obliterate or make dim: to efface a memory.

2. to make (oneself) inconspicuous or humble through modesty, cowardice, or obsequiousness

3. to rub out (a line, drawing, etc); erase

[C15: from French effacer, literally: to obliterate the face; see face]

efˈfaceable adj

efˈfacement n

efˈfacer n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ef•face

(ɪˈfeɪs)

v.t. -faced, -fac•ing.

1. to wipe out; do away with; expunge: to efface sad memories.

2. to rub out, erase, or obliterate (outlines, traces, inscriptions, etc.).

3. to make (oneself) inconspicuous; withdraw (oneself) modestly or shyly.

[1480–90; < Middle French effacer. See ef-, face]

ef•face′a•ble, adj.

ef•face′ment, n.

ef•fac′er, n.

efface

Past participle: effaced
Gerund: effacing

Imperative
efface
efface

Present
I efface
you efface
he/she/it effaces
we efface
you efface
they efface

Preterite
I effaced
you effaced
he/she/it effaced
we effaced
you effaced
they effaced

Present Continuous
I am effacing
you are effacing
he/she/it is effacing
we are effacing
you are effacing
they are effacing

Present Perfect
I have effaced
you have effaced
he/she/it has effaced
we have effaced
you have effaced
they have effaced

Past Continuous
I was effacing
you were effacing
he/she/it was effacing
we were effacing
you were effacing
they were effacing

Past Perfect
I had effaced
you had effaced
he/she/it had effaced
we had effaced
you had effaced
they had effaced

Future
I will efface
you will efface
he/she/it will efface
we will efface
you will efface
they will efface

Future Perfect
I will have effaced
you will have effaced
he/she/it will have effaced
we will have effaced
you will have effaced
they will have effaced

Future Continuous
I will be effacing
you will be effacing
he/she/it will be effacing
we will be effacing
you will be effacing
they will be effacing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been effacing
you have been effacing
he/she/it has been effacing
we have been effacing
you have been effacing
they have been effacing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been effacing
you will have been effacing
he/she/it will have been effacing
we will have been effacing
you will have been effacing
they will have been effacing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been effacing
you had been effacing
he/she/it had been effacing
we had been effacing
you had been effacing
they had been effacing

Conditional
I would efface
you would efface
he/she/it would efface
we would efface
you would efface
they would efface

Past Conditional
I would have effaced
you would have effaced
he/she/it would have effaced
we would have effaced
you would have effaced
they would have effaced

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Verb	1.	efface - remove completely from recognition or memory; "efface the memory of the time in the camps" obliterate slur, dim, blur - become vague or indistinct; "The distinction between the two theories blurred" blot out, obliterate, veil, hide, obscure - make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing; "a hidden message"; "a veiled threat"
	2.	efface - make inconspicuous; "efface oneself" humble - cause to be unpretentious; "This experience will humble him"
	3.	efface - remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing; "Please erase the formula on the blackboard--it is wrong!" rub out, score out, wipe off, erase sponge - erase with a sponge; as of words on a blackboard delete, cancel - remove or make invisible; "Please delete my name from your list" scratch out, cut out - strike or cancel by or as if by rubbing or crossing out; "scratch out my name on that list"

efface

verb obliterate, remove, destroy, cancel, wipe out, erase, eradicate, excise, delete, annihilate, raze, blot out, cross out, expunge, rub out, extirpate an attempt to efface the memory of their previous failures

efface yourself make yourself inconspicuous, withdraw, be retiring, keep a low profile, be timid, be diffident, be bashful, keep out of the limelight, be modest, keep out of the public eye, be unassertive He always wants to efface himself, and hates any kind of ostentation.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

efface

verb

To remove or invalidate by or as if by running a line through or wiping clean:

annul, blot (out), cancel, cross (off or out), delete, erase, expunge, obliterate, rub (out), scratch (out), strike (out), undo, wipe (out), x (out).

Law: vacate.

Translations

يَتَجَنَّب لَفْت الإنْتِباهيَمْحو، يَشْطُب، يَطْمُس

fjerneholde sig i baggrundensletteudviske

sich zurückhalten tilgen

effacer

háttérben marad

afmá, òurrka útláta sem minnst á sér bera

cancellare

laikytis nuošaliailikti nepastebimam

izdzēstturēties malā/sāņus

utslette være selvutslettende

stáť bokom

dikkati çekmemeye çalışmaksilmek

不露面抹去

efface

[ɪˈfeɪs] VT → borrar
to efface o.s → no hacerse notar, lograr pasar inadvertido

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

efface

[ɪˈfeɪs] vt (= remove) [+ name, image] → effacer; [+ memory] → effacer
to efface o.s. (= be humble) → s'effacer

efface

vt → auslöschen; to efface oneself → sich zurückhalten

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

efface

[ɪˈfeɪs] vt (frm) → cancellare

efface

(iˈfeis) verb

1. to rub out; to remove. You must try to efface the event from your memory.

2. to avoid drawing attention to (oneself). She did her best to efface herself at parties.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Vainly he sought by tracing life backward in memory, to reproduce the moment of his sin; scenes and incidents came crowding tumultuously into his mind, one picture effacing another, or commingling with it in confusion and obscurity, but nowhere could he catch a glimpse of what he sought.

View in context

An increase in mortality in a captive flock of budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) coincided with the isolation of attaching and effacing Escherichia coli from postmortem samples.

J Zoo Wildl Med.: Investigation and control of an attaching and effacing Escherichia coli outbreak in a colony of captive budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus)

Effacing the Orbitoglabellar Groove with Transposed Upper Eyelid Fat.

Dr. Guy Massry, MD - Southeastern Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Symposium

More crucially, the increased moisture in the air is effacing the ink, and the texts are rapidly vanishing.

Hieratic documents from the Ramesside period in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo

Histologically, the characteristic finding is the presence of uniform neoplastic lymphoid follicles packed closely together (figure, A), usually effacing the nodal architecture and often extending out into the extranodal fat (figure, B).

Follicular lymphoma

Budget woes have prompted a recommendation that funding for North Carolina's drug court programs be eliminated or sharply curtailed, Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly reported in June, According to Join Together Online, the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) proposed slashing $11 million from its $305 million budget, including effacing the $1.1 million spent on drug courts.

North Carolina drug courts face termination. (State News)

The North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) has proposed slashing $11 million from its $305 million budget, including effacing the $1.1 million spent on drug courts.

North Carolina drug courts face termination. (State to State)

One set of particularly widespread genes regulates a process central to infection, aptly dubbed attaching and effacing. These genes enable E.