efface
VerbWordNet 3.0
Verb (3)
- remove completely from recognition or memory“efface the memory of the time in the camps”Synonyms: obliterate
- make inconspicuous“efface oneself”
- remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing“Please erase the formula on the blackboard--it is wrong!”Synonyms: eraserub outscore outwipe off
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
Efface \Ef*face"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Effaced; p. pr. & vb. n. Effacing.] [F. effacer; pref. es- (L. ex) + face face; prop., to destroy the face or form. See Face, and cf. Deface.]
1.To cause to disappear (as anything impresses or inscribed upon a surface) by rubbing out, striking out, etc.; to erase; to render illegible or indiscernible; as, to efface the letters on a monument, or the inscription on a coin. [1913 Webster]
2.To destroy, as a mental impression; to wear away. [1913 Webster]
Efface from his mind the theories and notions vulgarly received.— Bacon.
Syn: To blot out; expunge; erase; obliterate; cancel; destroy. -- Efface, Deface. To deface is to injure or impair a figure; to efface is to rub out or destroy, so as to render invisible. [1913 Webster]