delete

verb de·lete \ di-ˈlēt , dē- \

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Examples: delete in a Sentence

Definition of delete

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 e-mail was accidentally deleted.

—

deletable

play \di-ˈlē-tə-bəl, dē-\ adjective

- an easily deletable photo

See delete defined for English-language learners

See delete defined for kids

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 of delete from the Web

And who is writing the tweets or deleting the tweets or opening the burner accounts or managing the organization or whatever?

— andrew sharp and ben golliver, SI.com, "Will Bryan Colangelo Saga Prevent the 76ers From Pursuing Potential Big-Name Free Agents?," 8 June 2018
In a frameshift an added or deleted molecular building block called a nucleotide throws a wrench into a cell’s replication gearbox.

— keridwen cornelius, Scientific American, "A Shot against Cancer Slated for Testing in Massive Dog Study," 7 June 2018
Here’s what Cavs owner Dan Gilbert tweeted, then deleted.

— pete grathoff, kansascity, "Cavaliers owner deletes tweet about officiating during Game 3 of NBA Finals," 7 June 2018
And finally, Trump has attempted to divert attention back to Clinton’s deleted emails and her private email server, a topic of much discussion during the 2016 campaign.

— ryan teague beckwith, Time, "Read the 191 Arguments President Trump Has Made Against the Mueller Investigation," 7 June 2018
Even Elon Musk, though he hasn’t spoken overtly against the company, very publicly deleted Facebook pages for himself, Tesla, and SpaceX in response to the short-lived #DeleteFacebook campaign.

— maya kosoff, The Hive, "How Silicon Valley’s Petty Feud with Mark Zuckerberg Could Backfire," 5 June 2018
The new trigger group deletes the three round burst capability and adds full-auto fire.

— kyle mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The Army’s M4 Carbine Can Fire Even If You Don't Pull the Trigger," 1 June 2018
Consumers also take actions when the benefits of data are not clear, 64% according to Deloitte deleted certain apps because of data concerns.

— recode staff, Recode, "Full video and transcript: Kleiner Perkins’ Mary Meeker at Code 2018," 31 May 2018
Lively has been using social media a lot to promote A Simple Favor, and recently deleted all of her Instagram photos, and even unfollowed her husband on the platform.

— amy mackelden, Harper's BAZAAR, "Ryan Reynolds Trolls Blake Lively Again, and Reveals She Drove Herself to Hospital While in Labor," 27 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'delete.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of delete

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1605

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

delete Synonyms

Synonyms

blue-pencil, cancel, cross (out), dele, edit (out), elide, kill, scratch (out), strike (out), stroke (out), x (out);

Near Antonyms

stet;

bleep, blip, clip, cut, excise, remove;

bowdlerize, censor, clean (up), expurgate, launder, redact, red-pencil;

abbreviate, crop, shorten;

black out, repress, silence, suppress;

DELETE Defined for English Language Learners

delete

verb

Definition of delete for English Language Learners

: to remove (something, such as words, pictures, or computer files) from a document, recording, computer, etc.

DELETE Defined for Kids

delete

verb de·lete \ di-ˈlēt \

Definition of delete for Students

deleted; deleting

: to take out especially by erasing, crossing out, or cutting

delete a sentence

delete a computer file

Learn More about delete

See words that rhyme with delete Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for delete Spanish Central: Translation of delete Nglish: Translation of delete for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of delete for Arabic speakers

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delete

Definition of delete

deletable

Examples of delete in a Sentence

Recent Examples of delete from the Web

Origin and Etymology of delete

delete Synonyms

Synonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

DELETE Defined for English Language Learners

delete

Definition of delete for English Language Learners

DELETE Defined for Kids

delete

Definition of delete for Students

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