• Erase

    Pronunciation

    • RP enPR: Ä­-rāzʹ, IPA: /ɪˈɹeɪz/
    • US enPR: Ä­-rāsʹ, IPA: /ɪˈɹeɪs/
    • Rhymes: -eɪs, -eɪz

    Origin

    From Latin erasus, past participle of eradere ("to scrape, to abrade"), from ex- ("out of") + radere ("to scrape")

    Full definition of erase

    Verb

    1. (transitive) to remove markings or informationI erased that note because it was wrong.
    2. (transitive) To obliterate information from (a storage medium), such as to clear or (with magnetic storage) to demagnetize.I'm going to erase this tape.
    3. (transitive) To obliterate (information) from a storage medium, such as to clear or to overwrite.I'm going to erase those files.
    4. (transitive, baseball) To remove a runner from the bases via a double play or pick off playJones was erased by a 6-4-3 double play.
    5. (intransitive) To be erased (have markings removed, have information removed, or be cleared of information).The chalkboard erased easily.Her painful memories seemingly erased completely.The files will erase quickly.
    6. (transitive) To disregard (a group, an orientation, etc.); to prevent from having an active role in society.
      • 1998, Janice Lynn Ristock, ‎Catherine Taylor, Inside the academy and outI suggest, then, that counterdiscourses, when reductive, tend to emulate the screen discourse that erases gay sociality.
      • 2004, Daniel Lefkowitz, Words and Stones (page 209)As a result, Palestinians are hyperpresent in Israeli media, while Mizrahim are erased from public discourse.
      • 2011, Qwo-Li Driskill, Queer Indigenous Studies (page 40)Silence around Native sexuality benefits the colonizers and erases queer Native people from their communities.

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