Wipe vs. Erase — What's the Difference?

To subject to light rubbing or friction, as with a cloth or paper, in order to clean or dry.

To remove (something written, for example) by rubbing, wiping, or scraping.

To clean or dry by rubbing

To remove (recorded material) from a magnetic tape or other storage medium

To rub, move, or pass (a cloth, for example) over a surface.

To remove recorded material from (a magnetic tape or disk, for example)

To remove by or as if by rubbing

To remove all traces of; eliminate or obliterate

To blot out completely, as from the memory.

(transitive) to remove markings or information

To spread or apply by or as if by wiping

(transitive) To obliterate information from (a storage medium), such as to clear or (with magnetic storage) to demagnetize.

To form (a joint) in plumbing by spreading solder with a piece of cloth or leather.

(transitive) To obliterate (information) from a storage medium, such as to clear or to overwrite.

The act or an instance of wiping.

To remove a runner from the bases via a double play or pick off play

Something, such as a towel or tissue, used for wiping.

(intransitive) To be erased have markings removed, have information removed, or be cleared of information.

A cam that activates another part; a wiper.

(transitive) To disregard (a group, an orientation, etc.); to prevent from having an active role in society.

A blow or swipe.

To kill; assassinate.

(Informal) A jeer; a gibe.

(computing) The operation of deleting data.

A transition from one scene in a film or movie to another, effected by means of a line passing across the screen.

To rub or scrape out, as letters or characters written, engraved, or painted; to efface; to expunge; to cross out; as, to erase a word or a name.

(transitive) To move an object over, maintaining contact, with the intention of removing some substance from the surface. Compare rub.

Fig.: To obliterate; to expunge; to blot out; - used of ideas in the mind or memory.

(transitive) To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; usually followed by away, off, or out.

Remove from memory or existence;

(obsolete) To cheat; to defraud; to trick; usually followed by out.

Remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing;

(ambitransitive) To clean (the buttocks) after defecation.

Wipe out magnetically recorded information

To erase.

To make (a joint, as between pieces of lead pipe), by surrounding the junction with a mass of solder, applied in a plastic condition by means of a rag with which the solder is shaped by rubbing.

(figurative) To remove an expression from one's face.

(transitive) To deperm (a ship).

To have all members of a party die in a single campaign, event, or battle; to be wiped out.

The act of wiping something.

A soft piece of cloth or cloth-like material used for wiping.

A handkerchief.

A kind of film transition where one shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the frame to another or with a special shape.

(obsolete) A sarcastic remark; a reproof, a jibe.

A blow or swipe; the act of striking somebody or something.

A lapwing, especially a northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).

An instance of all members of a party dying in a single campaign, event, or battle; a wipeout.

The lapwing.

Act of rubbing, esp. in order to clean.

A blow; a stroke; a hit; a swipe.

A gibe; a jeer; a severe sarcasm.

A handkerchief.

Stain; brand.

To rub with something soft for cleaning; to clean or dry by rubbing; as, to wipe the hands or face with a towel.

To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; - usually followed by away, off or out. Also used figuratively.

To cheat; to defraud; to trick; - usually followed by out.

The act of rubbing or wiping;

Rub with a circular motion;