delete

Etymology

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”).

verb

1. To remove, get rid of or erase, especially written or printed material, or data on a computer or other device.
2. (online gaming, slang) To defeat or dominate.
   Also I got deleted by a rogue and druid who were both invisible and just popped up and cleaned me. 2020-11-20, “Enhance Arena positioning”, in Blizzard Forums (US)
3. (transitive, slang) To kill or murder.
   "Go find this guy, Alex," Conch had said. "And delete him." 2008, Ted Bell, Assassin
   "[…]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?" 2013, Tim Corkery, Funny to Horror: Short Stories
   I'm a forty-something psychopath who thinks he has the right to delete anyone he sees fit. 2015, Shane Kuhn, The Intern's Handbook, page 220
   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. 2017, Bill Dixon, Dragonfire: A New World of Poems and Stories

noun

1. (computing) A deletion.
   Cascading updates and cascading deletes are useful features of the SQL Server database engine. 2003, Jeffrey P. McManus, Jackie Goldstein, Kevin T. Price, Database Access with Visual Basic .NET, page 30
2. (recorded entertainment industry) A remainder of a music or video release.
   One CRIA official pegs the total record sales of deletes and imports as high as 30 percent for 1976 Oct 29, 1977, Billboard, volume 89, number 43, page 57
   The industry also continues to discuss how the new GATT will serve to prevent a flood of deletes into the market Dec 1, 1984, Billboard, volume 96, number 48, page 68
   Brian Robertson, president of the Canadian Recording Industry Assn. (CRIA), says the flood of deletes could be more harmful than the last wave […] Feb 9, 1985, Billboard, volume 97, number 6, page 38
3. (uncountable) Alternative letter-case form of Delete
4. (computing) The delete character (U+007F or %7F).