Erasing - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

e·rase

Audio Help [i-reys] Pronunciation Key verb, e·rased, e·ras·ing.

–verb (used with object)

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)

7.	to give way to effacement readily or easily.

8.	to obliterate characters, letters, markings, etc., from something.

[Origin: 1595–1605; < L érāsus (ptp. of érādere), equiv. to é- e- + rāsus scraped; see raze

]

—Related forms

e·ras·a·bil·i·ty, noun

e·ras·a·ble, adjective

—Synonyms 1. expunge, obliterate. See cancel.

—Antonyms 1, 3. restore.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Erasing

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

e·rase Audio Help (ĭ-rās') Pronunciation Key
tr.v. e·rased, e·ras·ing, e·ras·es

1. To remove (something written, for example) by rubbing, wiping, or scraping.
2. To remove (recorded material) from a magnetic tape or other storage medium: erased a file from the diskette.
3. To remove recorded material from (a magnetic tape or disk, for example): erased the videocassette.
To remove all traces of.
To remove or destroy as if by wiping out: 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: 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 equation from the blackboard; erased any hope of success.
Expunge and efface imply thorough removal: expunged their names from the list; tried to efface prejudice from his mind.
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.