June 17, 2016
- erase (verb)
- What does it mean?
- 1 a : to rub out (as something written) b : to remove written or drawn marks from c : to remove recorded matter from d : to delete from a computer storage device2 : to remove as if by erasing
- How do you use it?
- On their 20th anniversary, Steve and Val pulled out their old VCR to watch the videotape that had been made of their wedding, only to discover that the recording had been accidentally erased and taped over with episodes of "Seinfeld."
- Are you a word wiz?
Which one of these words do you think is related to "erase"?Your word knowledge is up to scratch if you picked B. In fact, the root of "erase," the Latin verb "radere," means "to scratch or scrape." Sharing the same parent word with "erase" is "rash," meaning "a breaking out of the skin with red spots." "Abrade," meaning "to rub or wear away especially by friction," also comes from "radere." Another Latin root, "rodere" meaning "to gnaw," is akin to "radere." It gave us the name of the order of small mammals with sharp front teeth we call "rodents," as well as the word "erode," which describes the action of "eating away" something by wind, water, or glacial ice.