- erase
- I(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)v. t. efface, rub out, expunge, cancel, obliterate, blot out. See nullification, destruction, extraction.II(Roget's IV) v.1. [To rub or wipe out]Syn. delete, cancel, obliterate, expunge, efface, eradicate; see also cancel 1 .2. [*To kill]Syn. murder, slay, dispatch; see kill 1 .Syn.- erase implies a scraping or rubbing out of something written or drawn, or figuratively, the removal of an impression; to expunge is to remove or wipe out completely; efface implies a rubbing out from a surface, and, in extended use, suggests a destroying of the distinguishing marks, or even of the very existence, of something; obliterate implies a thorough blotting out of something so that all visible traces of it are removed; delete implies the marking of written or printed matter for removal, or the removal of the matter itselfIII(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) v.rub off, expunge, remove, wipe out, delete, efface, strike, obliterate, nullify, scratch, blue-pencil, wash out.IV(Roget's Thesaurus II) 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. See CONTINUE. 2. To destroy all traces of: abolish, annihilate, blot out, clear, eradicate, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, kill1, liquidate, obliterate, remove, root1 (out or up), rub out, snuff out, stamp out, uproot, wipe out. Idioms: do away with, make an end of, put an end to. See HELP, MAKE.
English dictionary for students. 2013.