delete
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delete¹
- /dɪˈliːt/
- /diˈliːt/
- /dəˈliːt/
Rhymes with -iːt
Where it comes from
From Latin dēlētus, past participle of dēlēre (“destroy, blot out, efface”), from dēlēvī, originally perf. tense of dēlinere (“to daub, erase by smudging”), from dē- (“from, away”) + linere (“to smear, wipe”). Original sense first appears c. 1495. In common use for ordering the absence of features of products (such as automobiles) in the 1960s. The computing sense, including the noun form, first appears c. 1977 in Software: Practice & Experience. Not related to deleterious.
Doublet of delible and deleble.
verb deletes · deleting · deleted
-
To remove, get rid of or erase, especially written or printed material, or data on a computer or other device.
Early on in the model year [1968] Pontiac experienced some production problems [in producing polyurethane bumpers] regarding fit, matching paint color, and bonding the material to the base metal. As a result, 2,108 1968 GTOs left the factory with chrome bumpers borrowed from the LeMans. These cars h
Similar: erase, clear, strike, terminate, remove · Opposite: insert, maintain, restore, stet
-
To remove from a record label's catalog so that it is out of print.
Similar: erase, clear, strike, terminate, remove · Opposite: insert, maintain, restore, stet
- To defeat or dominate. Also I got deleted by a rogue and druid who were both invisible and just popped up and cleaned me.
- To kill or murder. "Go find this guy, Alex," Conch had said. "And delete him."
Similar: erase, clear, strike, terminate, remove, redact, rub out, strike out, obliterate, cancel, cross out, score, scrub, scrap, scratch, expunge, eliminate, blue-pencil, exclude, squelch · Opposite: insert, maintain
noun deletes
- A deletion. Cascading updates and cascading deletes are useful features of the SQL Server database engine.
- A remainder of a music or video release. One CRIA official pegs the total record sales of deletes and imports as high as 30 percent for 1976
- Alternative letter-case form of Delete
- The delete character (U+007F or %7F).
Delete²
Where it comes from
From the verb delete.
noun Deletes · Del · delete
- A key that may be pressed to delete something (such as text or files) from a computer. The key also erases text from left to right, unlike the backspace key.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: erase, cancel, blue-pencil, deletion, expunge, efface, remove, erasure, removing, removal, disband, dispel, elimination, abolishment, eliminate, dissipate
Translations
Every language
verb to remove
| Español | deletear |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 삭제(削除)하다 sakjehada |
| 日本語 | 消す kesu, 削除する sakujo-suru |
| 中文 | 刪除 /删除 shānchú |
| Português | apagar, excluir, deletar, eliminar |
| Français | supprimer |
| Deutsch | streichen, löschen |
| Italiano | cancellare, eliminare |
| Ελληνικά | διαγράφω diagráfo, καταργώ katargó |
| Română | șterge |
| Русский | удаля́ть udaljátʹ, удали́ть udalítʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | xóa, gạch, gạt bỏ |
| العربية | حَذَفَ ḥaḏafa |
noun a key that may be pressed to delete something
| Español | tecla de suprimir |
|---|---|
| Français | touche de suppression |
| Deutsch | Entfernen |
| Tiếng Việt | phím xóa, phím xóa tiến |
Talk about this word "delete." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/delete. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. delete. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/delete "delete." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/delete.Cite this
@misc{delete_2026,
title = {delete},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/delete},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
