efface

== English == === Etymology === From Middle French effacer (“erase”), from Old French esfacier (“remove the face”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /əˈfeɪs/, /ɪˈfeɪs/ Rhymes: -eɪs === Verb === efface (third-person singular simple present effaces, present participle effacing, simple past and past participle effaced) (transitive) To erase (as anything impressed or inscribed upon a surface); to render illegible or indiscernible. 1825, Walter Scott, The Talisman, A.L. Burt Company (1832?), 15: An outline of the same device might be traced on his shield, though many a blow had almost effaced the painting. (transitive) To cause to disappear as if by rubbing out or striking out. (intransitive) To make oneself inobtrusive as if due to modesty or diffidence. (medicine, intransitive) Of the cervix during pregnancy, to thin and stretch in preparation for labor. (medicine, intransitive) Of a woman: to have the cervix thin and stretch in this manner. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== deface === Anagrams === Caffee == French == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /e.fas/ === Noun === efface f (plural effaces) (North America) eraser Synonym: gomme === Verb === efface inflection of effacer: first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive second-person singular imperative === Further reading === “efface”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012