ef·face
(ĭ-fās′)v. ef·faced, ef·fac·ing, ef·fac·es
v.tr.1. To rub or wipe out; erase: The serial number had been effaced from the stolen product.
2. To remove or make indistinct: "Five years' absence had done nothing to efface the people's memory of his firmness" (Alan Moorehead).
3. To conduct (oneself) inconspicuously: "When the two women went out together, Anna deliberately effaced herself and played to the dramatic Molly" (Doris Lessing).
4. Medicine To cause to become shorter, softer, and thinner during labor: The cervix was effaced as the contractions continued.
v.intr. Medicine To become shorter, softer, and thinner during labor. Used of the cervix.
[Middle English effacen, from French effacer, from Old French esfacier : es-, out (from Latin ex-, ex-) + face, face; see face.]
ef·face′a·ble adj.
ef·face′ment n.
ef·fac′er n.
ef·fa·cé
(ĕf′ə-sā′)n. A position in ballet in which the dancer stands at an angle to the audience so that part of the body is hidden from view.
[French, from past participle of effacer, to efface; see efface.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.