Defacing

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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              So by false learning is good sense defaced. --Pope.
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     2. [Cf. F. d['e]faire.] To destroy; to make null. [Obs.]
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              [Profane scoffing] doth . . . deface the reverence
              of religion.                          --Bacon.
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              For all his power was utterly defaste [defaced].
                                                    --Spenser.
  
     Syn: See {Efface}.
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