efface
ef·face (
-f
s
)
tr.v. ef·faced, ef·fac·ing, ef·fac·es
1. To rub or wipe out; erase.
2. To make indistinct as if by rubbing: “Five years’ absence had done nothing to efface the people’s memory of his firmness” Alan Moorehead. See Synonyms at erase.
3. To conduct (oneself) inconspicuously: “When the two women went out together, Anna deliberately effaced herself and played to the dramatic Molly” Doris Lessing.
[Middle English effacen, from French effacer, from Old French esfacier : es-, out (from Latin ex-, ex-) + face, face; see face.]
ef·facea·ble adj.
ef·facement n.
ef·facer n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
| Verb | 1. | efface – remove completely from recognition or memory; “efface the memory of the time in the camps”
blot out, obliterate, veil, hide, obscure – make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing; “a hidden message”; “a veiled threat”
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| 2. | efface – make inconspicuous; “efface oneself”
humble – cause to be unpretentious; “This experience will humble him”
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| 3. | efface – remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing; “Please erase the formula on the blackboard–it is wrong!”
sponge – erase with a sponge; as of words on a blackboard
scratch out, cut out – strike or cancel by or as if by rubbing or crossing out; “scratch out my name on that list”
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Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
