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Erase vs Efface - What's the difference?

erase | efface |

In transitive terms the difference between erase and efface

is that erase is to disregard (a group, an orientation, etc.); to prevent from having an active role in society while efface is to cause to disappear as if by rubbing out or striking out.

erase

English

Verb

(eras)
  • to remove markings or information
  • I erased that note because it was wrong.
  • To obliterate information from (a storage medium), such as to clear or (with magnetic storage) to demagnetize.
  • I'm going to erase this tape.
  • To obliterate (information) from a storage medium, such as to clear or to overwrite.
  • I'm going to erase those files.
  • (baseball) To remove a runner from the bases via a double play or pick off play
  • Jones was erased by a 6-4-3 double play.
  • To be erased .
  • The chalkboard erased easily.
    Her painful memories seemingly erased completely.
    The files will erase quickly.
  • 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 out
  • I 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.

    Derived terms

    * eraser * unerase * erasable * unerasable

    Antonyms

    * (remove markings or information) record

    Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs ----

    efface

    English

    Verb

    (effac)
  • To erase (as anything impressed or inscribed upon a surface); to render illegible or indiscernible.
  • Do not efface what I've written on the chalkboard.
  • * 1825 , , The Talisman , A.L. Burt Company (1832?), 15:
  • An outline of the same device might be traced on his shield, though many a blow had almost effaced the painting.
  • To cause to disappear as if by rubbing out]] or [[strike out, striking out.
  • Some people like to efface their own memories with alcohol.
  • (reflexive) To make oneself inobtrusive as if due to modesty or diffidence.
  • Many people seem shy, but they really just efface for meekness.
  • (medicine) Of the cervix during pregnancy, to thin and stretch in preparation for labor.
  • Some females efface 75% by the 39th week of pregnancy.

    Derived terms

    * effaceable * effacement * effacer * self-effacing

    See also

    * deface ----