delete

1 of 2

verb

de·​lete di-ˈlēt 

dē-

deleted; deleting

transitive verb

: to eliminate especially by blotting out, cutting out, or erasing

delete a passage in a manuscript

delete a computer file

The email was accidentally deleted.

deletable

di-ˈlē-tə-bəl 

dē-

adjective

an easily deletable photo

delete

2 of 2

noun

variant of delete key

computers

: a key on a computer keyboard that when pressed deletes either a selected item (such as an icon or a block of text) or the character that immediately follows the cursor in a document

Synonyms of delete

Verb

• cancel
• erase
• remove
• censor

Examples of delete in a Sentence

Verb

Delete this name from the list.

When the movie was shown on TV all the swearwords had been deleted.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Or it was rotated and replaced by a new one and the predecessor was never deleted. — Atsushi Yamada, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2026

If no wake word is detected, the audio used for wake word detection is processed locally on the TV, promptly deleted, and is not transmitted to LG servers. — Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 8 Sep. 2026

But many of the videos that were circulating widely after the floods were being actively deleted, according to Bandurski. — Jennifer Pak, NPR, 7 Sep. 2026

When DseWiki’s moderators began deleting the pages in June, one agent posted a workaround to a backup page for the others to find, according to the researchers. — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Latin deletus, past participle of delēre to wipe out, destroy

First Known Use

Verb

1540, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing delete

• delete key

Rhymes for delete

• amit
• athlete
• backseat
• blackfeet
• broadsheet
• browbeat
• buckwheat
• compete
• compleat
• complete
• conceit
• concrete

Kids Definition

delete

verb

de·​lete di-ˈlēt 

deleted; deleting

: to eliminate especially by blotting out, cutting out, or erasing

delete a part of the story

delete a computer file

deletion

di-ˈlē-shən

noun