To erase means to remove something completely, making it disappear as if it was never there. When you erase a pencil mark with an eraser, you rub away the graphite until the paper looks blank again. When you erase a file from your computer, you delete it so it no longer exists in that location.

Early writers literally scraped mistakes off parchment with knives before erasers were invented. Today we erase in many ways: we erase whiteboard markers with felt cloths, erase digital photos we don't want, or erase recordings we no longer need.

You can also erase things that aren't physical. A terrible loss might erase a team's early confidence. Years of good behavior can help erase the memory of a past mistake. Sometimes people talk about trying to erase painful memories, though our brains don't work quite like computers.

The word suggests thoroughness: erasing means removing something entirely, making it gone. When something is erased, nothing of it remains.