verb
delete
dih-LEET
verb
1
To remove or erase something, especially text or digital data.
"She accidentally deleted the entire folder of photos."
"Please delete my email address from your mailing list."
noun
1
The key on a keyboard used to erase text or files.
"He hit delete and the whole paragraph vanished."
How to Use Delete
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo get rid of something, usually a file, message, or piece of text.
Common mistake
Not related to "deleterious" (harmful), despite the similar spelling.
Easily confused with
deleterious
Common pairings
delete a file
delete key
delete an account
Word Forms
deleted past tense, Deletes plural, deletes singular
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She accidentally _____ the entire folder of photos.
Etymology
From Latin delere, "to destroy or wipe out." The computing sense only caught on in the late 1970s.