deleting

verb

present participle of delete
as in canceling
to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it the teacher deleted the last line of the student's essay, wisely sensing that it lessened the impact

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of deleting Unlike a text, there’s no drafting, deleting or do-over. — Michelle Sobel, Fortune, 23 June 2026 Both were part of Richmond’s circle, and both were ready to debate an idea without deleting the debater. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 8 June 2026 Following his arrest, Vance and his co-conspirators destroyed evidence by deleting phone messages and taking down the two websites, the plea agreement says. — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2026 And even though Citi Bike’s age verification system has multiple components that could be used even without biometric screening and with quickly deleting any data collected, that didn’t matter. — Bradley Tusk, New York Daily News, 20 June 2026 González recommends deleting it immediately, running a security scan, keeping an eye on your transactions, and reporting the incident to your local consumer protection office or the police. — Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 1 July 2026 When deleting this temp file, EncryptPro bypasses the Recycle Bin but doesn’t apply secure deletion, so it could theoretically be recovered with forensic software. — Neil J. Rubenking, PC Magazine, 1 July 2026 Evelyne dos Santos Gonçalves, 29, a 25-year-old man and a 27-year-old man have also been accused of deleting digital content, the outlets reported, citing the Civil Police. — Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 21 June 2026 However, because agentic systems can execute actions independently, an error can become a severe operational failure, such as authorizing fraudulent transactions or deleting mission-critical databases. — Barney Krishnan, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deleting
  1. canceling
  2. erasing
  3. removing
  4. censoring
Verb
  • From premium noise-canceling headphones to budget-friendly wireless earbuds, these are the standout offers still active right now.
    — Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 6 July 2026
  • The same goes for pedestrians, who increasingly are glued to phones and engrossed in noise-canceling headphones.
    — Doug Turnbull, AJC.com, 5 July 2026
Definition of canceling
Verb
  • The birthright citizenship ruling was a win for democracy — and a warning about erasing history, argues columnist Anita Chabria.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
  • Love is the capacity to hold difference without fragmentation, to bring parts into relationship without erasing their uniqueness and to align intelligence with constructive becoming.
    — Pravir Malik, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Definition of erasing
Verb
  • Regular care prevents yellowing by removing oils and buildup that dull fabrics over time.
    — Quincy Bulin, Southern Living, 1 July 2026
  • Bart Jansen Trump called the court removing restrictions on political spending a victory for Republicans and free speech.
    — Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 1 July 2026
Definition of removing
Verb
  • Vance asserted that the 2020 election was rigged due to tech companies censoring information.
    — Britta Miller, The Washington Examiner, 27 June 2026
  • Professors are censoring themselves in lectures and rewriting syllabuses.
    — Bruce Schneier, The Conversation, 27 May 2026
Definition of censoring

Browse Nearby Words

deletes
deleting
deletion
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Deleting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deleting. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on deleting

Nglish: Translation of deleting for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All