Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense erases, present participle erasing, past tense, past participle erased
1. verb
If you erase a thought or feeling, you destroy it completely so that you can no longer remember something or no longer feel a particular emotion.
They are desperate to erase the memory of that last defeat in Cardiff. [VERB noun]
Love was a word he'd erased from his vocabulary since Susan's going. [VERB noun + from]
Synonyms: delete, cancel out, wipe out, remove More Synonyms of erase
2. verb
If you erase sound which has been recorded on a tape or information which has been stored in a computer, you completely remove or destroy it.
He was in the studio tearfully erasing all the tapes he'd slaved over. [VERB noun]
It appears the names were accidentally erased from computer disks. [beVERB-ed + from]
[Also V n + from]
3. verb
If you erase something such as writing or a mark, you remove it, usually by rubbing it with a cloth.
It was unfortunate that she had erased the message. [VERB noun]
More Synonyms of erase
erase in British English
(ɪˈreɪz)
verb
1.
to obliterate or rub out (something written, typed, etc)
2. (transitive)
to destroy all traces of; remove completely
time erases grief
3.
to remove (a recording) from (magnetic tape)
4. (transitive) computing
to replace (data) on a storage device with characters representing an absence of data
Derived forms
erasable (eˈrasable)
adjective
Word origin
C17: from Latin ērādere to scrape off, from ex-1 + rādere to scratch, scrape
erase in American English
(iˈreɪs; ɪˈreɪs)
verb transitiveWord forms: eˈrased or eˈrasing
1.
to rub, scrape, or wipe out (esp. written or engraved letters); efface; expunge
2.
to remove (something recorded) from (magnetic tape)
3.
to remove any sign of; obliterate, as from the mind
4.
to remove (data) from a computer storage device
5. Slang
to kill
SYNONYMY NOTE: 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 destroyingof 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 areremoved; , delete implies the marking of written or printed matter for removal, or the removal of thematter itself
Derived forms
erasable (eˈrasable)
adjective
Word origin
< L erasus, pp. of eradere, to scratch out < e-, out + radere, to scrape, scratch: see rat
Examples of 'erase' in a sentence
erase
Now, they are largely erased from modern memory in the region.
Smithsonian Mag (2017)
He tried to erase the tapes as he wasn't happy with it but an engineer restrained him.
The Sun (2017)
So if I learn how to play my music through my car stereo, another nugget of information must be erased from the memory banks.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Victims of past purges have been completely erased from the media.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
It did not take long for them to erase it completely.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The couple manage to get into her account and erase the message.
The Sun (2014)
We have unfinished business from last year and a great opportunity to erase those negative thoughts.
The Sun (2008)
Then the tape will be erased.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
It consumed him until the next match, a chance to erase the defeat.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Then I needed to borrow his phone and he quickly tried to erase two messages.
The Sun (2009)
I don't know how to erase these thoughts.
The Sun (2008)
The sin, the error, the evil is to be wiped out and erased from memory.
Christianity Today (2000)
She claims that the erased messages were personal, dealing with matters such as yoga classes and her daughter's wedding plans.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
She smiled at the thought of erasing one or two of them, and maybe one brother, but no more than one.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Cultural policy will above all be negative, a critique of the past; it will be aimed at erasing from the memory and at destroying.
Low, Nicholas Politics, Planning and the State (1990)
In other languages
erase
British English: erase /ɪˈreɪz/ VERB
If you erase a thought or feeling, you destroy it completely so that you can no longer remember it or feel it.
The team tried to erase the memory of their last defeat.
American English: erase
Arabic: يـَمْحُو
Brazilian Portuguese: apagar
Chinese: 抹去
Croatian: brisati
Czech: vymazat
Danish: udviske
Dutch: wissen
European Spanish: borrar
Finnish: pyyhkiä pois
French: gommer
German: ausradieren
Greek: σβήνω
Italian: cancellare
Japanese: 消す 消去
Korean: 지우다
Norwegian: viske ut
Polish: wymazać
European Portuguese: apagar
Romanian: a șterge
Russian: стирать
Latin American Spanish: borrar
Swedish: radera
Thai: ลบออก
Turkish: silmek
Ukrainian: стирати
Vietnamese: tẩy xóa
Chinese translation of 'erase'
erase
(ɪˈreɪz)
vt
[words, mark]擦掉 (cādiào)
[sound from tape etc]抹掉 (mǒdiào)
(fig)[thought, memory]消除 (xiāochú)
1 (verb)
Definition
to destroy all traces of
They are desperate to erase the memory of their defeat.
Synonyms
delete
cancel out
wipe out
remove
They intend to remove up to 100 offensive words.
eradicate
battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus
excise
a crusade to excise racist and sexist references in newspapers
obliterate
I would like to obliterate the memory of what just occurred.
efface
an attempt to efface the memory of their previous failures
blot out
expunge (formal)
The experience was something he had tried to expunge from his memory.
2 (verb)
Definition
to rub or wipe out (something written)
She erased the words from the blackboard.
Synonyms
rub out
remove
This treatment removes the most stubborn stains.
wipe out
delete
He deleted files from the computer system.
scratch out
Additional synonyms
in the sense of efface
Definition
to rub out or erase
an attempt to efface the memory of their previous failures
Synonyms
obliterate,
remove,
destroy,
cancel,
wipe out,
erase,
eradicate,
excise,
delete,
annihilate,
raze,
blot out,
cross out,
expunge (formal),
rub out,
extirpate (archaic)
in the sense of eradicate
Definition
to destroy or get rid of completely
battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus
Synonyms
wipe out,
eliminate,
remove,
destroy,
get rid of,
abolish,
erase,
excise,
extinguish,
stamp out,
obliterate,
uproot,
weed out,
annihilate,
put paid to,
root out,
efface,
exterminate,
expunge (formal),
extirpate,
wipe from the face of the earth
in the sense of excise
Definition
to delete a passage from a book
a crusade to excise racist and sexist references in newspapers