Hypertext Webster Gateway: "deface"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Deface \De*face"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Defaced}; 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.
So by false learning is good sense defaced. --Pope.
2. [Cf. F. d['e]faire.] To destroy; to make null. [Obs.]
[Profane scoffing] doth . . . deface the reverence
of religion. --Bacon.
For all his power was utterly defaste [defaced].
--Spenser.
Syn: See {Efface}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
deface
v 1: mar or spoil the appearance of; "scars defaced her cheeks"
[syn: {disfigure}, {blemish}]
2: deface a building facade, for example
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