erase - Definitions from Dictionary.com

8 results for: erase

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.
erase

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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.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
erase

1605, from L. erasus, pp. of eradere "scrape out," from ex- "out" + radere "to scrape" (see raze). Of magnetic tape, from 1945. Eraser "thing that erases writing" is 1790, in Amer.Eng.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

erase
verb
1.	remove from memory or existence; "The Turks erased the Armenians in 1915"
2.	remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing; "Please erase the formula on the blackboard--it is wrong!"
3.	wipe out digitally or magnetically recorded information; "Who erased the files form my hard disk?" [ant: record]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
erase [iˈreiz, (American) iˈreis] verb

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

Arabic:	يَمْحو، يَشْطُب
Chinese (Simplified):	擦掉
Chinese (Traditional):	擦掉
Czech:	vymazat
Danish:	slette; viske ud
Dutch:	uitwissen
Estonian:	kustutama
Finnish:	pyyhkiä pois
French:	effacer
German:	ausradieren
Greek:	σβήνω
Hungarian:	kitöröl
Icelandic:	stroka út
Indonesian:	menghapus
Italian:	cancellare

Japanese:	消す
Korean:	지우다
Latvian:	izdzēst
Lithuanian:	ištrinti
Norwegian:	viske ut, slette
Polish:	wymazać
Portuguese (Brazil):	apagar
Portuguese (Portugal):	apagar
Romanian:	a şterge
Russian:	стирать
Slovak:	vymazať, vytrieť
Slovenian:	zbrisati
Spanish:	borrar
Swedish:	radera
Turkish:	silmek

See also: eraser

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

erase
delete

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Erase

E*rase"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Erased; 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.

Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

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