delete

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

Synonyms

• cancel
• erase
• remove
• censor

Examples of delete in a Sentence

Delete this name from the list.

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Those posts were made as recently as 2021 and have since been deleted as Platner has distanced himself from his past remarks. —Andrew Stanton, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025

In early 2022, not long before the suit with Giuffre was settled, his social media accounts were deleted, and on his page on the royal family’s website, his duties were changed to be listed in the past tense. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025

The section featuring his comments were abruptly deleted on YouTube. —Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2025

Review your pages using the thumbnail carousel at the bottom to rearrange or delete any before saving. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

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