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erase

 [ih-reys]   Origin

e·rase

   [ih-reys] 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.
EXPAND
6.
Slang. to murder: The gang had to erase him before he informed on them.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
7.
to give way to effacement readily or easily.
8.
to obliterate characters, letters, markings, etc., from something.

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Erase is always a great word to know.
So is BASIC. Does it mean:
a complete set of coded instructions directing a computer to perform a series of operations
a programming language that uses English words, punctuation, and algebraic notation to facilitate communication between the operator and the computer
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Origin:
1595–1605; < Latin ērāsus (past participle of ērādere), equivalent to ē- e- + rāsus scraped; see raze

Related forms
e·ras·a·bil·i·ty, noun
e·ras·a·ble, adjective
half-e·rased, adjective
non·e·ras·a·ble, adjective
un·e·ras·a·ble, adjective
EXPAND
un·e·rased, adjective
un·e·ras·ing, adjective
COLLAPSE

Can be confused: erasable, irascible.

Synonyms
1. expunge, obliterate. See cancel.

Antonyms
1, 3. restore.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To erase
Collins
World English Dictionary
erase (ɪˈreɪz)
 
—vb
1.  to obliterate or rub out (something written, typed, etc)
2.  (tr) to destroy all traces of; remove completely: time erases grief
3.  to remove (a recording) from (magnetic tape)
4.  (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]
 
e'rasable
 
—adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

erase
c.1600, from L. erasus, pp. of eradere "scrape out," from ex- "out" + radere "to scrape" (see raze). Of magnetic tape, from 1945.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

erase definition


  1. tv.
    to kill someone. : Mr. Gutman decided who was gonna erase who.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

erase definition


delete

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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