To erase or obliterate, as something inscribed or cut on a surface; destroy or render illegible; hence, to remove or destroy as if by erasing: as, to efface the letters on a monument; to efface a writing; to efface a false impression from a person's mind.
To keep out of view or unobserved; make inconspicuous; cause to be unnoticed or not noticeable: used reflexively: as, to efface one's self in the midst of gaiety.
Synonyms Deface, Erase, Cancel, Expunge, Efface, Obliterate. To deface is to injure, impair, or mar to the eye, and so generally upon the surface: as, to deface a building. The other words agree in representing a blotting out or removal. To erase is to rub out or scratch out, so that the thing is destroyed, although the signs of it may remain: as, to erase a word in a letter. To cancel is to cross out, to deprive of force or validity. To expunge is to strike out; the word is now rarely used, except of the striking out of some record: as, to expunge from the journal a resolution of censure. To efface is to make a complete removal: as, his kindness effaced all memory of past neglect. Obliterate is more emphatic than efface, meaning to remove all sign or trace of.