delete

Definition of delete

8 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

verb

(transitive)To remove, get rid of or erase, especially written or printed material, or data on a computer or other device.

See all 8 definitions

verb

(transitive)To remove, get rid of or erase, especially written or printed material, or data on a computer or other device.
(Internet, slang)To defeat or dominate.

“Also I got deleted by a rogue and druid who were both invisible and just popped up and cleaned me.”
(slang, transitive)To kill or murder.

“"Go find this guy, Alex," Conch had said. "And delete him."”
“"[…]The less we discover about him, the more we are convinced he needs to be deleted..." […] "Yes. In other words I kill a terrorist, right?"”
“I'm a forty-something psychopath who thinks he has the right to delete anyone he sees fit.”
“She either felt pity for him and put him out of pain, a ridiculous, untrue solution for pity and sorrow are delusions, or she was part of his triangle had to delete him before he spoke again, he had to be silenced.”

noun

A deletion.

“Cascading updates and cascading deletes are useful features of the SQL Server database engine.”
A remainder of a music or video release.

“One CRIA official pegs the total record sales of deletes and imports as high as 30 percent for 1976”
“The industry also continues to discuss how the new GATT will serve to prevent a flood of deletes into the market”
“Brian Robertson, president of the Canadian Recording Industry Assn. (CRIA), says the flood of deletes could be more harmful than the last wave […]”
(alt-of, uncountable)Alternative letter-case form of Delete.
The delete character (U+007F or %7F).
A key that may be pressed to delete something (such as text or files) from a computer. The key also erases text from left to right, unlike the backspace key.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Latin dēlētus, past participle of dēlēre (“destroy, blot out, efface”), from dēlēvī, originally perf. tense of dēlinere (“to daub, erase by smudging”), from dē- (“from, away”) + linere (“to…

See full etymology

From Latin dēlētus, past participle of dēlēre (“destroy, blot out, efface”), from dēlēvī, originally perf. tense of dēlinere (“to daub, erase by smudging”), from dē- (“from, away”) + linere (“to smear, wipe”). Original sense first appears c. 1495. In common use for ordering the absence of features of products (such as automobiles) in the 1960s. The computing sense, including the noun form, first appears c. 1977 in Software: Practice & Experience. Not related to deleterious. Doublet of delible and deleble.

Words you can make from delete

24 playable · top: EELED (6 pts)

Best play eeled 6 points

4-letter words

8 words

3-letter words

10 words

2-letter words

5 words

Hooks

2 extensions · 2 back

A single letter you can add to delete to make another valid word.