Effacement

ef·face  (-fs)

tr.v. ef·faced, ef·fac·ing, ef·fac·es

1. To rub or wipe out; erase.

2. To make indistinct as if by rubbing: "Five years' absence had done nothing to efface the people's memory of his firmness" Alan Moorehead. See Synonyms at erase.

3. To conduct (oneself) inconspicuously: "When the two women went out together, Anna deliberately effaced herself and played to the dramatic Molly" Doris Lessing.

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[Middle English effacen, from French effacer, from Old French esfacier : es-, out (from Latin ex-, ex-) + face, face; see face.]

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ef·facea·ble adj.

ef·facement n.

ef·facer n.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	effacement - shortening of the uterine cervix and thinning of its walls as it is dilated during labor biological process, organic process - a process occurring in living organisms childbed, confinement, lying-in, parturiency, travail, labour, labor - concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child; "she was in labor for six hours"
	2.	effacement - withdrawing into the background; making yourself inconspicuous self-effacement withdrawal - the act of withdrawing; "the withdrawal of French troops from Vietnam"