efface en · VERB
Pronunciation
Etymology
From Middle French effacer (“erase”), from Old French esfacier (“remove the face”).
Meanings
-
(transitive) 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.
An outline of the same device might be traced on his shield, though many a blow had almost effaced the painting.
1825, Walter Scott, The Talisman, A.L. Burt Company (1832?), 15
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(transitive) To cause to disappear as if by rubbing out or striking out.
Some people like to efface their own memories with alcohol.
The bright records of the last hour effaced all the darker traces left by long and weary days.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXXI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 254:
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(intransitive) To make oneself inobtrusive as if due to modesty or diffidence.
Many people seem shy, but they really just efface for meekness.
- (intransitive) Of the cervix during pregnancy, to thin and stretch in preparation for labor.
-
(intransitive) Of a woman: to have the cervix thin and stretch in this manner.
Some females efface 75% by the 39th week of pregnancy.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| effaced | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| effaced | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| effaces | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| effacing | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Deriveds
effaceable · ineffaceable · self-effacing · uneffaced · effacer · effacement
Relateds
Synonyms
Translations (48)
ja 拭い去る (cause to disappear as if by rubbing out) · ar دَسَمَ (to erase) · cmn 磨 (to erase) · nan-hbl 拍擦銷 /拍擦销 (to erase) · fr effacer (cause to disappear as if by rubbing out) · io efacar (to erase) · th ล้าง (to erase) · tl bura (to erase) · es borrar (cause to disappear as if by rubbing out) · de auslöschen (cause to disappear as if by rubbing out) · ja 抹殺する (to erase) · cs vymazat (cause to disappear as if by rubbing out) · ru стирать (to erase) · cs zahladit (to erase) · el αποσβήνω (to erase) · ar طَلَسَ (to erase) · fi pyyhkiä (to erase) · sh zbrȉsati (to erase) · ru стирать (cause to disappear as if by rubbing out) · es borrar (to erase) · sw -futa (to erase) · bg заличавам (to erase) · ru замазывать (to erase) · bg зачерквам (cause to disappear as if by rubbing out) · la dēlinō (to erase) · de unkenntlich machen (to erase) · sh збри̏сати (to erase) · cs vymazat (to erase) · cs smazat (to erase) · de unlesbar machen (to erase) · fr s'effacer (make oneself inobtrusive) · bg премахвам (to erase) · ar مَحَا (to erase) · de zum Verschwinden bringen (cause to disappear as if by rubbing out) · nl zich wegcijferen (make oneself inobtrusive) · fr effacer (to erase) · ta அழி (to erase) · de ausradieren (cause to disappear as if by rubbing out) · fi pyyhkiä (cause to disappear as if by rubbing out) · la oblitterō (to erase) · mr पुसणे (to erase) · ka წაშლა (to erase) · bg изтривам (cause to disappear as if by rubbing out) · ro șterge (to erase) · ja 消去する (to erase) · de verwischen (to erase) · fi vetäytyä (make oneself inobtrusive) · ru вычёркивать (make oneself inobtrusive)