as in to erase
to destroy all traces of
when the supply ship finally arrived, it discovered that virtually all evidence of the colony at Roanoke had been effaced
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Recent Examples of efface
The leaps in time have the eerie effect of effacing time—the layered succession of images implying their simultaneity in Lidia’s mind.
—
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2026
This collection represents his earnest and thrilling mission to efface the line between poetry and prose, to introduce us to the possibility that each is affirmed and made complete by the other.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
The road not taken—and now rediscovered by Orozco—is the reintroduction of the ancient Marxist concept of use value,the dialectical opposite of exchange value, and, more recently, also the sole form of resisting exhibition value, which has totally effaced the concepts of material use and function.
—Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Artforum, 1 June 2025
Has any country been quite so successful in effacing a people through the ubiquity of their representation on stamps, in schoolboy games and on billboards for tourist destinations along Route 66?
—Andrew Moore, New York Times, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for efface
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2026
This collection represents his earnest and thrilling mission to efface the line between poetry and prose, to introduce us to the possibility that each is affirmed and made complete by the other.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
The road not taken—and now rediscovered by Orozco—is the reintroduction of the ancient Marxist concept of use value,the dialectical opposite of exchange value, and, more recently, also the sole form of resisting exhibition value, which has totally effaced the concepts of material use and function.
—Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Artforum, 1 June 2025
Has any country been quite so successful in effacing a people through the ubiquity of their representation on stamps, in schoolboy games and on billboards for tourist destinations along Route 66?
—Andrew Moore, New York Times, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for efface
Recent Examples of Synonyms for efface
Verb
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Cook County has also had a separate program to erase medical debt.—
Lisa Schencker,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Feb. 2026
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This administration is literally erasing Black and Transgender people from society.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
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These four novels create a convincing, wrenching, kaleidoscopic picture of the range and repetitions of the most fatal kind of love; the sort of love that allows nothing else to grow around it, that eradicates all dignity; a love which, in order to be completed, must be told.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
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Because of these and other factors, the program to eradicate coca farming in Colombia failed, and production exploded.—
Greg Rosalsky,
NPR,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In a similar move, Dissanayake's government abolished perks provided to former presidents in September in response to popular demand.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Feb. 2026
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The holiday first made it to the states when French explorers settled in New Orleans, and the celebrations stuck until the Spanish gained control of Louisiana and abolished the carnival.—
Paige Moore,
AZCentral.com,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Efface.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/efface. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
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