Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To mar or spoil the appearance or surface of; disfigure.
- transitive verb To impair the usefulness, value, or influence of.
- transitive verb Obsolete To obliterate; destroy.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To mar the face or surface of; disfigure; spoil the appearance of: as, to
deface a monument. - To impair or efface; blot or blot out; erase; obliterate; cancel: as, to
deface an inscription; to deface a record.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb 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
- transitive verb obsolete To destroy; to make null.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To
damage something, especially a surface, in avisible orconspicuous manner. - verb To
void ordevalue ; tonullify ordegrade theface value . - verb heraldry To alter a
coat of arms or a flag by adding an element to it.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb mar or spoil the appearance of
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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a collision course with nature – to deface or not to deface, that is the question.
Jennifer Schwab: Renewable Energy -- Not in My Backyard! 2009
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Lots of Christians purposely "deface" their own Bibles.
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Lots of Christians purposely "deface" their own Bibles.
Archive 2005-07-01 2005
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It will be observed, that the word "deface," employed in this statute, actually covers the marking of margins by any reader, all such marking constituting a defacement within the meaning of the law.
A Book for All Readers An Aid to the Collection, Use, and Preservation of Books and the Formation of Public and Private Libraries Ainsworth Rand Spofford
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Ashurnasirbal calls upon the triad not to listen to the prayers of such as deface his monuments.
The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Morris Jastrow 1891
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Eileen Leuby, a resident of James River Road who also serves as president of the New Albany Chamber of Commerce, said the T-Mobile unit atop the AEP tower would "deface" the tower and the surrounding area.
thisweeknews.com: RSS gmartineau@thisweeknews.com 2010
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But one objector from Solvang in California, said that the plans would "deface" the tarn's landscape.
News round-up 2009
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You, however, seem to have found need of twisting my words to make it seem as though I were letting those who pollute and/or deface the landscape in any other way off the hook.
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You, however, seem to have found need of twisting my words to make it seem as though I were letting those who pollute and/or deface the landscape in any other way off the hook.
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But far less talented graffiti vandals won't deface the work of professional graffiteros.
Graffiti: Mexico City's wall art emerges from the shadows 2009
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