deletion

noun

de·​le·​tion di-ˈlē-shən 

dē-

1

: the act of deleting

2

a

: something deleted

b(1)

: the absence of a section of genetic material from a gene or chromosome

(2)

: the mutational process that results in a deletion

Synonyms

• elision
• omission

Examples of deletion in a Sentence

one of the deletions from the final cut of the movie turned out to be my one line of dialogue

Recent Examples on the Web

Earlier this month, a Defense Department purge of DEI content led to U.S. military branches flagging tens of thousands of online photos and posts for deletion. —Meredith Kile, People.com, 19 Mar. 2025

He’s struggled to find explanations for some of the deletions other than spite. —Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2025

But when members of the public spoke up about the deletion of equity and climate commitments at last month’s Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission meeting, commission board members said nothing in response. —Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2025

Just like the Google Maps Timeline data deletions, the Google account data purge is also being implemented for very solid security reasons. —Davey Winder, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin deletion-, deletio destruction, from delēre

First Known Use

1590, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for deletion

• accretion
• completion
• concretion
• depletion
• excretion
• repletion
• secretion
• carburetion
• grecian
• hypersecretion

Medical Definition

deletion

noun

de·​le·​tion di-ˈlē-shən 

1

: the absence of a section of genetic material from a gene or chromosome

2

: the mutational process that results in a deletion