delete

verb

de·​lete di-ˈlēt 

dē-

deleted; deleting

transitive verb

: to eliminate especially by blotting out, cutting out, or erasing

delete a passage in a manuscript

delete a computer file

The email was accidentally deleted.

deletable

di-ˈlē-tə-bəl 

dē-

adjective

an easily deletable photo

Synonyms

• blue-pencil
• cancel
• cross (out)
• dele
• edit (out)
• elide
• kill
• scratch (out)
• strike (out)
• stroke (out)
• x (out)

Examples of delete in a Sentence

Delete this name from the list.

When the movie was shown on TV all the swearwords had been deleted.

Recent Examples on the Web

Platt deleted the post, but not before other social media users were able to take snaps of it and outlets like The Hollywood Reporter were able to quote it. —Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2025

The post, which was seen by CNN, was deleted late Friday afternoon after screenshots of it started to circulate on Chinese social media. —Will Ripley, CNN Money, 29 Mar. 2025

However, some data must be maintained even after the account has been deleted. —Lauren Green, The Washington Examiner, 28 Mar. 2025

Customers can log into their accounts and permanently delete their data by following the steps on this page, according to the news release. —Michelle Deal-Zimmerman, Baltimore Sun, 27 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin deletus, past participle of delēre to wipe out, destroy

First Known Use

1540, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing delete

• delete key

Rhymes for delete

• amit
• athlete
• backseat
• blackfeet
• broadsheet
• browbeat
• buckwheat
• compete
• compleat
• complete
• conceit
• concrete

Kids Definition

delete

verb

de·​lete di-ˈlēt 

deleted; deleting

: to eliminate especially by blotting out, cutting out, or erasing

delete a part of the story

delete a computer file

deletion

di-ˈlē-shən

noun