To expunge means to remove something completely, as if it never existed. When a library expunges old records from its database, those records are erased entirely. When a court expunges someone's criminal record, it's as though that arrest or conviction never happened, giving them a fresh start.

The word suggests thorough, deliberate erasure that eliminates all traces. If you delete a sentence from your essay, you've removed it. But if you expunge every trace of an embarrassing mistake from your school project, you've eliminated it so completely that no one could tell it was ever there.

Expunge often appears in legal contexts. Some states allow people to expunge juvenile records when they become adults, recognizing that mistakes made as a child shouldn't follow someone forever. Schools might expunge outdated disciplinary notes from student files after a certain period.

The word carries a sense of official, permanent removal. You wouldn't usually say you expunged crumbs from the table. You'd save expunge for serious situations where something needs to be wiped from the record entirely.