delete

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”).

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈliːt/, /diˈliːt/, /dəˈliːt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: de‧lete
• Rhymes: -iːt

delete (third-person singular simple present deletes, present participle deleting, simple past and past participle deleted)

1. To remove, get rid of or erase, especially written or printed material, or data on a computer or other device. [from 1600s]

   Synonyms: erase, clear, strike, terminate, remove; see also Thesaurus:delete

   Antonyms: insert, maintain

2. (online gaming, slang) To defeat or dominate.
   • 2020 November 20, “Enhance Arena positioning”, in Blizzard Forums (US)‎:

     Also I got deleted by a rogue and druid who were both invisible and just popped up and cleaned me.

3. (transitive, slang) To kill or murder.
   • 2008, Ted Bell, Assassin:

     "Go find this guy, Alex," Conch had said. "And delete him."

   • 2013, Tim Corkery, Funny to Horror: Short Stories:

     " […] 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?"

   • 2015, Shane Kuhn, The Intern's Handbook, page 220:

     I'm a forty-something psychopath who thinks he has the right to delete anyone he sees fit.

   • 2017, Bill Dixon, Dragonfire: A New World of Poems and Stories:

     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.

• expletive deleted
• speedy delete

• deleterious (possibly)
• deletion
• deleter
• delible
• self-delete

• → Portuguese: deletar, delete

delete (plural deletes)

1. (computing) A deletion.
   • 2003, Jeffrey P. McManus, Jackie Goldstein, Kevin T. Price, Database Access with Visual Basic .NET, page 30:

     Cascading updates and cascading deletes are useful features of the SQL Server database engine.

2. (recorded entertainment industry) A remainder of a music or video release.
   • 1977 October 29, Billboard‎, volume 89, number 43, page 57:

     One CRIA official pegs the total record sales of deletes and imports as high as 30 percent for 1976

   • 1984 December 1, Billboard‎, volume 96, number 48, page 68:

     The industry also continues to discuss how the new GATT will serve to prevent a flood of deletes into the market

   • 1985 February 9, Billboard‎, volume 97, number 6, page 38:

     Brian Robertson, president of the Canadian Recording Industry Assn. (CRIA), says the flood of deletes could be more harmful than the last wave […]

3. (uncountable) Alternative letter-case form of Delete
4. (computing) The delete character (U+007F or %7F).

• deletion on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

delete f pl

1. feminine plural of deleto

• ledete

dēlēte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēleō

dēlēte

1. vocative masculine singular of dēlētus

Borrowed from English delete.

• Hyphenation: de‧le‧te

delete m (plural deletes)

1. Delete (key)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• Hyphenation: de‧le‧te

delete

1. inflection of deletar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative