抹掉 (mā) — to erase, to wipe away, to efface

Definition

抹掉 is a resultative verb complement meaning 'to wipe away' or 'to erase' — formed from 抹 ('to wipe') + 掉 ('to drop/remove'). The pinyin in this entry is marked as mā, but the standard pronunciation is mǒ diào (抹 is mǒ when meaning 'to wipe'; mā only appears in 抹布). Use it for physically wiping something off a surface, or metaphorically for erasing data, memories, or traces.

r.v.

to eraseto wipe awayto efface

Examples

抹掉。
Qǐng bǎ zhèxiē zì mā.
Please erase these characters.
抹掉。
Tā yòng bù mā le zhuō shàng de shuǐ.
He wiped away the water on the table with a cloth.
抹掉。
Nà duàn jìyì bèi chèdǐ mā le.
That memory has been completely erased.

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