- Defacing
- Deface De*face" (d[-e]*f[=a]s"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Defaced}
(d[-e]*f[=a]st"); p. pr. & vb. n. {Defacing}.] [OE. defacen
to disfigure, efface, OF. desfacier; L. dis- + facies face.
See {Face}, and cf. {Efface}.]
1. To destroy or mar the face or external appearance of; to
disfigure; to injure, spoil, or mar, by effacing or
obliterating important features or portions of; as, to
deface a monument; to deface an edifice; to deface
writing; to deface a note, deed, or bond; to deface a
record. ``This high face defaced.'' --Emerson.
[1913 Webster]
So by false learning is good sense defaced. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
2. [Cf. F. d['e]faire.] To destroy; to make null. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
[Profane scoffing] doth . . . deface the reverence of religion. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
For all his power was utterly defaste [defaced]. --Spenser.
Syn: See {Efface}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.