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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Effacing

Efface \Ef*face"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Effaced; p. pr. & vb. n. Effacing.] [F. effacer; pref. es- (L. ex) + face face; prop., to destroy the face or form. See Face, and cf. Deface.]

  1. To cause to disappear (as anything impresses or inscribed upon a surface) by rubbing out, striking out, etc.; to erase; to render illegible or indiscernible; as, to efface the letters on a monument, or the inscription on a coin.

  2. To destroy, as a mental impression; to wear away.

    Efface from his mind the theories and notions vulgarly received.
    --Bacon.

    Syn: To blot out; expunge; erase; obliterate; cancel; destroy. -- Efface, Deface. To deface is to injure or impair a figure; to efface is to rub out or destroy, so as to render invisible.

Wiktionary
effacing

vb. (present participle of efface English)

Usage examples of "effacing".

She seemed to have no compunction about compressing the aloof distance she usually maintained with her staff, and stood facing him barely a foot away, her shoulders back and spine straight, almost in a military stance, but with the laughing gleam in her eye and the smooth lines of her cheek effacing any thoughts of the harshness of command.

Much has changed since Julius Caesar and his legions swept through the hinterlands of Gaul four hundred years ago, bringing fire and devastation to hundreds of barbarian villages and towns, killing and enslaving a million men, entirely effacing from history and existence countless tribes and their distinguishing characteristics.