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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Efface

Ef-fāce', v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. EFFACED (ef-fāst'); p. pr. & vb. n. EFFACING.] [Fr. effacer, Pr. esfassar, properly to destroy the face or form, from Fr. face, Pr. fassa, facia, Lat. facies, face, form. Cf. DEFACE.]

  1. To remove from the surface; to erase or scratch out; to render illegible; as, to efface the letters on a monument, or the inscription on a coin.
  2. To remove from the mind; to wear away.

Efface from his mind the theories and notions vulgarly received. Bacon. Syn.—To blot out; expunge; erase; obliterate; cancel; destroy.—EFFACE, DEFACE. To deface is to injure or impair a figure; to efface is to rub out or destroy, so as to render invisible.

Ef-fāce', v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. To remove any thing written, printed, engraved, or stamped on the surface of a thing; to obliterate any mark or impression; to make erasures. Before decay's effacing fingers Have swept the lines where beauty lingers. Byron.