borrar
transitive verb
1 (hacer desaparecer) [+palabra, dibujo] (con goma) to rub out; erase; (con borrador) to rub off; clean off [+señal, mancha] to remove; [+pintada] to clean off; [+huellas] to wipe off; rub off [+mensaje, fichero] to delete; erase; [+canción, película] to tape over; erase
la fecha había sido cuidadosamente borrada the date had been carefully rubbed out o erased; borra lo que has puesto en la pizarra rub off o clean off what you've put on the blackboard; bórralo con Tippex white it out with Tipp-Ex;™ tippex it out
borrar a algn/algo del mapa to wipe sb/sth off the map
he borrado todos los mensajes del contestador I've erased o deleted all the messages on the answering machine
¿no habrás borrado el partido de fútbol? you haven't taped over o erased the football match, have you?
[+impresión] to wipe away; erase he borrado de mi mente aquellas imágenes I have wiped away o erased those images from my mind; consiguió borrar aquellos malos recuerdos he managed to wipe away o erase all those painful memories; era como si se hubieran borrado 40 años de la historia it was as if 40 years of history had been wiped clean o erased; no podía borrar de su cara las huellas del cansancio he was unable to wipe away the signs of fatigue from his face
2 (limpiar) [+disquete, cinta] to erase [+pantalla] to clear
borrar la pizarra to clean the blackboard
3 (dar de baja a)
borrar a algn de [+clase, actividad] to take sb out of; remove sb from; [+lista, curso] to take sb off; remove sb from; borró a los niños de la clase de natación she took the children out of the swimming class; she removed the children from the swimming class; bórranos de la excursión del sábado take us off the list for Saturday's outing; count us out of Saturday's outing (familiar)
pronominal verb
borrarse1 (darse de baja)
borrarse de [+club, asociación] to cancel one's membership of; resign from; [+curso] to drop out of; se borró de la biblioteca she cancelled her library membership; siempre hay alguien que se borra del curso al principio there's always somebody who drops out of the course at the beginning
2 (desaparecer) [+señal, marca] to fade away; [+imagen, recuerdo] to fade; [+duda, sospecha, temor] to disappear; be dispelled; [+sonrisa] to vanish
se había borrado el código the code number had faded away; eso se borra con agua that comes off o washes off with water
lo que pasó aquel día se me ha borrado con el tiempo the memory of what happened that day has faded with time
no se han borrado las sospechas entre la pareja the suspicion between the two of them has not disappeared o been dispelled