List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 140

SYNONYMS: erase, expunge, efface, delete, cancel.
These verbs mean to remove or invalidate something, especially something recorded as by having been written down.

To erase is to wipe or rub out, literally or figuratively: erased the equation from the blackboard. Unconsciousness erased the details of the accident from her memory.
Expunge implies thoroughgoing removal that leaves no trace: expunged their names from the list.
Efface also refers to the removal of every trace: effacing graffiti from subway cars; tried to efface prejudice from his mind.
Delete is used principally in the sense of removing matter from a manuscript: The expletives were deleted from the transcript.
Cancel refers to invalidating by or as if by drawing lines through something written or by indicating that the force or effect of something has been terminated: a postage stamp that had been canceled; cancel vows; cancel a debt.