Erase
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The operation of deleting data.
"This subsystem is waiting to become Exclusive after having issued an erase."
- 1 To remove (markings or information). transitive
"I erased that word from the page because it was wrong."
- 2 remove from memory or existence wordnet
- 3 To obliterate information from (a storage medium), such as to clear or (with magnetic storage) to demagnetize. transitive
"I'm going to erase this tape."
- 4 wipe out digitally or magnetically recorded information wordnet
- 5 To obliterate (information) from a storage medium, such as to clear or to overwrite. transitive
"I'm going to erase those files."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing wordnet
- 7 To remove a runner from the bases via a double play or pick off play transitive
"Jones was erased by a 6-4-3 double play."
- 8 To be erased (have markings removed, have information removed, or be cleared of information). intransitive
"The chalkboard erased easily."
- 9 To disregard (a group, an orientation, etc.); to prevent from having an active role in society. transitive
"I suggest, then, that counterdiscourses, when reductive, tend to emulate the screen discourse that erases gay sociality."
- 10 To kill; assassinate. slang, transitive
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"He wishes to erase bad memories."
Etymology
From Latin erasus, past participle of eradere (“to scrape, to abrade”), from ex- (“out of”) + radere (“to scrape”). Compare Middle English arasen, aracen (“to eradicate, erase”). Displaced native Old English dilegian.
Related phrases
More for "erase"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.