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
Beijing has also routinely sent ships and aircraft across the median line running through the Taiwan Strait, effacing a de facto boundary that was defined in 1955.
—
Isaac Kardon, Foreign Affairs, 21 May 2024
Lee’s joie de vivre infects her co-workers and bosses, who likewise begin to think that loneliness is something to be felt rather than effaced.
—Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
Agnes spends the series sheathed in a drab, severe outfit that effaces her as a person, couture from the House of Orwell.
—James Poniewozik, New York Times, 29 Feb. 2024
All the conflict and violence contained within this West Bank scene could not quite efface the beauty of it, as if the possibility of peace still lived somewhere, awaiting some unlikely rebirth of statesmanship.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for efface
Isaac Kardon, Foreign Affairs, 21 May 2024
Lee’s joie de vivre infects her co-workers and bosses, who likewise begin to think that loneliness is something to be felt rather than effaced.
—Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
Agnes spends the series sheathed in a drab, severe outfit that effaces her as a person, couture from the House of Orwell.
—James Poniewozik, New York Times, 29 Feb. 2024
All the conflict and violence contained within this West Bank scene could not quite efface the beauty of it, as if the possibility of peace still lived somewhere, awaiting some unlikely rebirth of statesmanship.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for efface
Recent Examples of Synonyms for efface
Verb
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This year's storms won't erase looming drought worries across the entire southwestern U.S., experts fear.—
Doyle Rice,
USA TODAY,
21 Feb. 2025
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But medieval transgender lives do illuminate that transgender people will not vanish even when the legal and medical systems strive to erase them.—
Sarah Barringer,
The Conversation,
18 Feb. 2025
Verb
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In places where measles have largely been eradicated, cases have been spread by travelers from other countries.—
ASSOCIATED PRESS,
TIME,
27 Feb. 2025
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Or for whatever reason, your particular brand of BV or yeast may just need a stronger or longer dose of meds to eradicate.—
Erica Sloan,
SELF,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Meanwhile, the current administration under President Trump has moved to abolish federal DEI programs.—
Kimberly Wilson,
Essence,
28 Feb. 2025
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That was weeks after the end of the U.S. Civil War but months before the 13th Amendment abolished slavery nationwide.—
Douglas Hanks,
Miami Herald,
26 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Efface.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/efface. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
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