Erase
Pronunciation
- RP enPR: Ä-rÄzʹ, IPA: /ɪˈɹeɪz/
- US enPR: Ä-rÄsʹ, 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
- (transitive) to remove markings or informationI erased that note because it was wrong.
- (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.
- (transitive) To obliterate (information) from a storage medium, such as to clear or to overwrite.I'm going to erase those files.
- (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.
- (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.
- (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.