erase

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erase

remove, as by rubbing or wiping out

Not to be confused with:

delete – to strike out or cancel, as from a text

e·rase

(ĭ-rās′)

tr.v. e·rased, e·ras·ing, e·ras·es

a. To remove (something written, for example) by rubbing, wiping, or scraping.

b. To remove (recorded material) from a magnetic tape or other storage medium: erased a file from the hard drive.

c. To remove recorded material from (a magnetic tape or disk, for example): erased the DVD.

2. To remove all traces of; eliminate or obliterate: had to erase all thoughts of failure from his mind.

[Latin ērādere, ērās-, to scratch out : ē-, ex-, ex- + rādere, to scrape; see rēd- in Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: erase, expunge, delete, cancel
These verbs mean to remove or invalidate something, especially something stored, recorded, or written down. To erase is to wipe or rub out, literally or figuratively: erased the word from the blackboard; erased any hope of success.
Expunge implies thorough removal: a performance that expunged doubts about his ability.
To delete is to remove matter from a manuscript or data from a computer application: deleted expletives from the transcript; deleted the file with one keystroke.
Cancel refers to invalidating by or as if by drawing lines through something written: canceled the postage stamp; canceled the reservation.

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.

erase

(ɪˈreɪz)

1. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) to obliterate or rub out (something written, typed, etc)

2. (tr) to destroy all traces of; remove completely: time erases grief.

3. (General Physics) to remove (a recording) from (magnetic tape)

4. (Computer Science) (tr) computing to replace (data) on a storage device with characters representing an absence of data

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

eˈrasable adj

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

e•rase

(ɪˈreɪs)

v. e•rased, e•ras•ing. v.t.

1. to rub or scrape out, as letters or characters written, engraved, etc.; efface.

2. to eliminate completely: She couldn't erase the scene from her memory.

3. to obliterate (recorded material) from (a recording medium): She erased the message on the answering machine. I accidentally erased the tape.

4. to remove (data) from computer storage: He erased the data from the hard drive.

5. Slang. to murder.

v.i.

6. to give way to effacement readily or easily.

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

[1595–1605; < Latin ērāsus, past participle of ērādere=ē- e- + rādere to scrape; compare raze]

e•ras′a•ble, adj.

e•ras`a•bil′i•ty, n.

erase

- From Latin e-, "out," and radere, "scrape."

erase

Past participle: erased
Gerund: erasing

Imperative
erase
erase

Present
I erase
you erase
he/she/it erases
we erase
you erase
they erase

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Verb	1.	erase - remove from memory or existence; "The Turks erased the Armenians in 1915" wipe out kill - cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays"
	2.	erase - 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, efface 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"
	3.	erase - wipe out digitally or magnetically recorded information; "Who erased the files form my hard disk?" delete recording, transcription - the act of making a record (especially an audio record); "she watched the recording from a sound-proof booth" take away, take out - take out or remove; "take out the chicken after adding the vegetables" demagnetise, demagnetize - erase (a magnetic storage device) record, tape - register electronically; "They recorded her singing"

erase

verb

1. delete, cancel out, wipe out, remove, eradicate, excise, obliterate, efface, blot out, expunge They are desperate to erase the memory of their defeat.

2. rub out, remove, wipe out, delete, scratch out She erased the words from the blackboard.

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

erase

verb

1. 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, efface, expunge, obliterate, rub (out), scratch (out), strike (out), undo, wipe (out), x (out).

Law: vacate.

2. To destroy all traces of:

abolish, annihilate, blot out, clear, eradicate, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, kill, liquidate, obliterate, remove, root (out or up), rub out, snuff out, stamp out, uproot, wipe out.

Idioms: do away with, make an end of, put an end to.

Translations

يـَمْحُويَمْحو، يَشْطُب

smazatvymazat

sletteudviskeviske ud

ausradieren löschen radieren

σβήνω

borrar

pyyhkiä pois

effacer éteindre gommer

brisati

stroka út

cancellare cancellatura estinguere gomma da inchiostro verniciare

消す

지우다

trintukas

izdzēst

zbrisati

radera

ลบออก

silmek

tẩy xóa

抹去擦掉

erase

[ɪˈreɪz]

A. VT

1. (gen) (Comput) → borrar

2. (US) (= kill) → liquidar

B. CPD erase head N → cabezal m borrador

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

erase

[ɪˈreɪz] vt

(= delete) [+ message, recording] → effacer
to erase sth from sth → effacer qch de qch

(= destroy) [+ memory] → bannir; [+ thought, feeling] → effacer

erase

vt → ausradieren; (from tape, Comput) → löschen; (from the mind) → streichen (from aus); (sl: = kill) → erledigen (sl)

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

erase

[ɪˈreɪz] vt → cancellare

erase

(iˈreiz) , ((American) iˈreis) verb

to rub out (pencil marks etc). The typist tried to erase the error.

eˈraser noun

(especially American) something that erases, especially a piece of india-rubber etc for erasing pencil etc.

erase

→ يـَمْحُو vymazat udviske ausradieren σβήνω borrar pyyhkiä pois gommer brisati cancellare 消す 지우다 wissen viske ut wymazać apagar стирать radera ลบออก silmek tẩy xóa 抹去

erase

vt. borrar; raspar.

References in classic literature ?

One day the soft airs of spring seemed to be stealing along the valley, and, in unison with an invigorating sun, attempting covertly to rouse the dormant powers of the vegetable world, while, on the next, the surly blasts from the north would sweep across the lake and erase every impression left by their gentle adversaries.

View in context

But, alas, vain regret would not erase the calamity that had befallen.

View in context

Years of imprisonment, and the still heavier burden of general incredulity and mockery, have combined with the natural decay of old age to erase from his mind many of the thoughts and notions, and much also of the terminology, which he acquired during his short stay in Spaceland.

View in context

Only love can erase the memory of love, or rather, the hurt of lost love.

View in context

That now, having expiated his sin against the husband, he was bound to renounce her, and never in future to stand between her with her repentance and her husband, he had firmly decided in his heart; but he could not tear out of his heart his regret at the loss of her love, he could not erase from his memory those moments of happiness that he had so little prized at the time, and that haunted him in all their charm.

View in context

We have thrown all the light we could acquire upon the portent, and would gladly, now that it has done its office, erase its deep print out of our own brain, where long meditation has fixed it in very undesirable distinctness.

View in context

It would be easier for the weakest poltroon that lives, to erase himself from existence, than to erase one letter of his name or crimes from the knitted register of Madame Defarge."

View in context

So we should have to erase every recorded thought, except in the sentence where it is expressed with the greatest intensity."

View in context

Nowhere had he found any sign that men had stopped even temporarily upon this shore, though, of course, he knew that so quickly does the rank vegetation of the tropics erase all but the most permanent of human monuments that he might be in error in his deductions.

View in context

And one feature they will erase, and another they will put in, they have made the ways of men, as far as possible, agreeable to the ways of God?

View in context

The declines continues a downtrend for the company that erases a bump in value triggered by an early May announcement that it was buying FOX's regional sports networks.

Sinclair Shares Plunge in Midday Trading

And Facebook permanently erases user data such as photos and status updates only when you delete your account, which Radiohead hasn't done.

Radiohead tried (and failed) to erase itself from the Internet

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