efface

• POS: Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: ef=face

CIDE DICTIONARY

efface, v. t. [F. effacer; pref. es- (L. ex) + face face; prop., to destroy the face or form. See Face, and cf. Deface.].

•  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]
•  To destroy, as a mental impression; to wear away.  [1913 Webster]

  "Efface from his mind the theories and notions vulgarly received."

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.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

efface, v.
1 tr. rub or wipe out (a mark etc.).
2 tr. (in abstract senses) obliterate; wipe out (effaced it from his memory).
3 tr. utterly surpass; eclipse (success has effaced all previous attempts).
4 refl. treat or regard oneself as unimportant (self-effacing).

Derivative

effacement n.

Etymology

F effacer (as EX-(1), FACE)

THESAURUS

efface

annul, black out, blot, blot out, cancel, cross out, dele, delete, eliminate, eradicate, erase, exclude, expunge, extirpate, obliterate, raze, rub out, rule out, scratch, scratch out, sponge, sponge out, strike out, wipe out

ROGET THESAURUS

efface

Disappearance

VB disappear, vanish, dissolve, fade, melt away, pass, go, avaunt, evaporate, vaporize, be gone, leave no trace, leave 'not a rack behind', go off the stage, suffer an eclipse, undergo an eclipse, retire from sight, be lost to view, pass out of sight, lose sight of, efface.

Oblivion

VB forget, be forgetful, fall into oblivion, sink into oblivion, have a short memory, have no head, forget one's own name, have on the tip of one's tongue, come in one ear and go out the other, slip memory, escape memory, fade from memory, die away from the memory, lose, lose sight of, fail to recall, not be able to recall, unlearn, efface, discharge from the memory, consign to oblivion, consign to the tomb of the Capulets, think no more of, cast behind one's back, wean one's thoughts from, let bygones be bygones.

Obliteration

VB efface, obliterate, erase, raze, rase, expunge, cancel, blot out, take out, rub out, scratch out, strike out, wipe out, wash out, sponge out, wipe off, rub off, wipe away, deface, render illegible, draw the pen through, apply the sponge, be effaced, leave no trace, leave not a rack behind.