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The act of erasing; a scratching out; obliteration.

Love; the god of love; -- by earlier writers represented as one of the first and creative gods, by later writers as the son of Aphrodite, equivalent to the Latin god Cupid.

Pertaining to, or derived from, a genus of cruciferous Mediterranean herbs (Eruca or Brassica); as, erucic acid, a fatty acid resembling oleic acid, and found in colza oil, mustard oil, etc.

earned; the acquisitions gained by extensive reading or study; particularly, learning in literature or criticism, as distinct from the sciences; scholarship. The management of a young lady's person is not be overlooked, but the erudition of her mind is much more to be regarded. Steele. The gay young gentleman whose eru…

Spirit. Esprit de corps (, a French phrase much used by English writers to denote the common spirit pervading the members of a body or association of persons. It implies sympathy, enthusiasm, devotion, and jealous regard for the honor of the body as a whole.

A writer of an essay, or of essays. B. Jonson.

Periodical; annual; -- applied to winds which annually blow from the north over the Mediterranean, esp. the eastern part, for an irregular period during July and August.

To become white or whiter; to be whitened or blanched by excluding the light of the sun, as, plants.

ho affects excessive refinement and elegance of language; -- applied esp. to a class of writers, in the age of Elizabeth, whose productions are marked by affected conceits and high-flown diction.

A tempestuous northeast wind which blows in the Mediterranean. See Levanter. A tempestuous wind called Euroclydon. Acts xxvii. 14.

forth to prepare the way for a resident pastor; an itinerant missionary preacher. (b) A writer of one of the four Gospels (With the definite article); as, the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. (c) A traveling preacher whose efforts are chiefly directed to arouse to immediate repentance. The Apostles, so…

To escape or pass off without effect; to be dissipated; to be wasted, as, the spirit of writer often evaporates in the process of translation. To give moderate liberty for griefs and discontents to evaporate . . . is a safe way. Bacon.

In old writers, the operations concerned in the removal of parts of the body.

In a high or superior degree; -- in this literal use, not implying worthiness. [Obs.] When the whole heart is excellently sorry. J. Fletcher.

ew leniently or to overlook; to pardon. And in our own (excuse some courtly stains.) No whiter page than Addison remains. Pope.

The doctrine that experience, either that ourselves or of others, is the test or criterion of general knowledge; -- opposed to intuitionists. Experientialism is in short, a philosophical or logical theory, not a philosophical one. G. C. Robertson.

; explanatory; illustrative; exegetical. A glossary or expository index to the poetical writers. Johnson.

To blot out, as with pen; to rub out; to efface designedly; to obliterate; to strike out wholly; as, to expunge words, lines, or sentences.

To pluck up by the stem or root; to root out; to eradicate, literally or figuratively; to destroy wholly; as, to extirpate weeds; to extirpate a tumor; to extirpate a sect; to extirpate error or heresy.

A writer of fables; a fabulist; a dealer in untruths or falsehoods. Br. Hall.