Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
efface - 4 dictionary results

ef⋅face

  [i-feys]
Use efface in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -faced, -fac⋅ing.
1. to wipe out; do away with; expunge: to efface one's unhappy memories.
2. to rub out, erase, or obliterate (outlines, traces, inscriptions, etc.).
3. to make (oneself) inconspicuous; withdraw (oneself) modestly or shyly.
Origin:
1480–90; < MF effacer. See ef-, face

Related forms:
ef⋅face⋅a⋅ble, adjective
ef⋅face⋅ment, noun
ef⋅fac⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To efface
ef·face   (ĭ-fās')   
tr.v.   ef·faced, ef·fac·ing, ef·fac·es
  1. To rub or wipe out; erase.
  2. To make indistinct as if by rubbing: "Five years' absence had done nothing to efface the people's memory of his firmness" (Alan Moorehead). See Synonyms at erase.
  3. To conduct (oneself) inconspicuously: "When the two women went out together, Anna deliberately effaced herself and played to the dramatic Molly" (Doris Lessing).

[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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Efface

Ef*face"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Effaced; p. pr. & vb. n. Effacing.] [F. effacer; pref. es- (L. ex) + face face; prop., to destroy the face or form. See Face, and cf. Deface.]

1. To cause to disappear (as anything impresses or inscribed upon a surface) by rubbing out, striking out, etc.; to erase; to render illegible or indiscernible; as, to efface the letters on a monument, or the inscription on a coin.

2. To destroy, as a mental impression; to wear away.

Efface from his mind the theories and notions vulgarly received. --Bacon.

Syn: To blot out; expunge; erase; obliterate; cancel; destroy. -- Efface, Deface. To deface is to injure or impair a figure; to efface is to rub out or destroy, so as to render invisible.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : efface
Spanish: borrar,
German: tilgen,
Japanese: ぬぐい去る
More Translations »

efface 
1490, from M.Fr. effacer, from O.Fr. esfacier, from es- "out" + face "appearance," from L. facies "face."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see efface on Thesaurus | Reference